[IsraelTimes] PM touts ‘countless’ actions against nuke program, but doesn’t deny US president blocked strike; security officials fume at leak of IDF’s plans; US still supplying bunker-buster bombs
US President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... said Thursday he was in no rush to greenlight strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the day after a New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... story revealed he had quashed an Israeli proposal for a joint attack next month.
Trump’s partial confirmation of the Times report came as Iranian and allied officials prepared for a second round of talks with the US on Saturday aimed at reaching a diplomatic agreement surrounding the Iranian nuclear program. Oman confirmed on Thursday that the talks would take place in Rome, putting to bed earlier Iranian claims that the talks would again be held in Muscat.
Asked about the report that he had "waved off" an Israeli plan to attack the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s nuclear sites next month, Trump said, "I wouldn’t say ’waved off.’"
But then he added, "I’m not in a rush to do it," indicating a degree of confirmation of the report.
Speaking to news hounds in the Oval Office alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Trump said, "Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has a chance to have a great country, and to live happily without death, and I’d like to see that. That’s my first option."
"If there’s a second option," he went on, "I think it would be very bad for Iran, and I think Iran is wanting to talk. I hope they’re wanting to talk. It’s going to be very good for them if they do. Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. It’s pretty simple."
The Islamic Theocratic Republic, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, but it enriches uranium to levels far beyond any civilian use and obstructs inspectors from visiting its nuclear sites.
PM TOUTS ’COUNTLESS’ ACTS AGAINST IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM
In his response to the Times story, earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touted his "countless" actions against Iran’s nuclear program, but did not deny that Trump had blocked a strike.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu has led, for more than a decade, the global campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, including when some people downplayed the threat or called it a ’political spin,’ or the prime minister ’paranoid’," his office said in a statement.
"The prime minister has led countless actions, overt and covert, in the campaign against Iran’s nuclear program — and only because of [those actions], Iran does not have a nuclear weapon in its arsenal today."
"These actions have delayed Iran’s nuclear program by about a decade, thanks to the determination of the prime minister to stand up to major opposition, at home and abroad, to his aggressive policy toward Iran," the statement said.
"As the prime minister has said more than once: Israel will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon," the statement concluded.
HEART OF THE SECRET
Channel 12 on Thursday night quoted a senior Israeli security official as bristling at the leak to The New York Times, which included details on the planned attack and its timing, and warning it was likely to harm ties between Jerusalem and Washington.
"The details that were leaked are dramatic, and [the leak is] likely to harm the intimate relations with the US Administration," the sources were quoted as saying.
"The core of the secret as regards Iran was revealed," the officials said, in reference to the planned attack, including "the method by which it would be carried out, the timing, coordination mechanisms, and the element of surprise. This constitutes real damage to Israeli interests in facing Iran."
The network also cited unnamed Israeli diplomats who warned the US and Iran could be "galloping to a bad deal, within a short timeframe."
According to the Times report, initial plans for the strike would have combined a joint Israeli-American bombing campaign with Israeli commando raids on underground nuclear sites, and included US Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s to protect the teams on the ground.
But such an operation would have required months of planning. Israeli and American officials, particularly Netanyahu, wanted to expedite the process. So the commando idea was shelved, and "Israeli and American officials began discussing a plan for an extensive bombing campaign."
The campaign would have started in early May and lasted more than a week, the report said, beginning with eliminating what remained of Iran’s air defense systems after Israel destroyed parts of the array during strikes in the country last year. This would pave the way for Israeli fighters to directly strike nuclear sites. Such an attack would have likely prompted Iran to launch a retaliatory missile barrage at Israel, requiring US assistance to fend it off.
The Kan public broadcaster reported Thursday, however, that Israel believes the US leaked the information in order to pressure Iran in the negotiations.
BUNKER-BUSTERS
Kan also reported that, despite Trump’s veto on a joint attack in May, the US has continued in recent days to send Israel huge shipments of ammunition, including bunker-buster bombs intended to make possible a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites.
In just the previous 24 hours, the network reported Thursday night, nine military transport planes had arrived at the Nevatim airbase in southern Israel, carrying hundreds of bombs, including bunker-busters, to allow a strike if negotiations fail.
Earlier this week, Kan reported that dozens of American planes had been arriving in Israel carrying heavy MK84 bombs and interceptor missiles for the THAAD air defense system.
RUSSIANS AND SAUDIS
Iran also continued to maneuver for influence ahead of the talks.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> sent his foreign minister Abbas Araghchi to Moscow on Thursday with a letter for 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... to brief the Kremlin about nuclear negotiations with the US.
Russia, a longstanding ally of Tehran, plays a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the West as a veto-wielding UN Security Council member and a signatory to an earlier nuclear deal Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
"Regarding the nuclear issue, we always had close consultations with our friends China and Russia. Now it is a good opportunity to do so with Russian officials," Araghchi told Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?He said he was conveying a letter to Putin that addressed regional and bilateral issues. Putin later received Araghchi in the Kremlin.
Moscow has bought weapons from Iran for the war in Ukraine and signed a 20-year strategic partnership deal with Tehran earlier this year, although it did not include a mutual defense clause. The two countries were battlefield allies in Syria for years until their ally Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... was toppled in December.
Putin has kept on good terms with Khamenei as both Russia and Iran are cast as enemies by the West, but Moscow is keen not to trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
Russia has said that any military strike against Iran would be illegal and unacceptable. On Tuesday, the Kremlin declined to comment when asked if Russia was ready to take control of Iran’s stocks of enriched uranium as part of a possible future nuclear deal between Iran and the United States.
Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse... Saudi Defense Minister Prince Kahlid bin Salman arrived in Tehran on Thursday, for meetings with officials ahead of the talks.
The defense minister delivered a message from Saudi King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians... bin Abdulaziz to Supreme Leader Khamenei, Iran’s state media reported, without giving further details about the content of the message.
"Our belief is that the relationship between the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... is beneficial for both countries," Iranian state media cited Khamenei as saying in the meeting. Khamenei voiced Tehran’s readiness to overcome obstacles in the way of improving ties with Riyadh.
Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed in a 2023 deal brokered by China to re-establish relations after years of hostility that had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and helped fuel conflicts in the Middle East from Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... to Syria.
Saudi Arabia welcomed Iran’s nuclear talks with the US, saying it supported efforts to resolve regional and international disputes, in a statement published by the country’s official news agency on Saturday.
"Ties between the Saudi and Iranian armed forces have been improving since the Beijing agreement," Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri said after meeting the Saudi minister in Tehran, according to Iranian state media.
#3
Trump to Iran - "I held them off....this time. You folks might want to cut the cr*p and get real about negotiation."
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/18/2025 14:54
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Trump needs to cut the crap in Ukraine, too. The irony is that he doesn't "hold the cards" there. And please, quit calling it "Biden's war". It's your war now, Mr. President. But I digress.
[IsraelTimes] Democrats party head vows to fight government ‘with all the power at our disposal’; ex-captive’s relative says PM will stand trial for ‘traitorous deeds’
Some one thousand anti-government protesters marched Thursday evening from Jerusalem’s government complex to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence, drawing on the Passover holiday’s celebration of freedom as they demanded a deal to bring home the remaining 59 hostages from Gaza.
Police and Border Police officers manned crowd control barricades, keeping protesters from drawing close to the premier’s home. No arrests were reported.
Yair Golan, head of the left-wing The Democrats, could be seen shaking protesters’ hands outside Netanyahu’s home as he moved through the crowd before giving an impromptu speech in which he demanded new elections.
“We have a giant task — to bring hope to the people and citizens of Israel,” said Golan, who was knocked down by police in the same spot last month during a mass protest against the government’s bid to oust Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
Calling to fight the government with “every power at our disposal,” including strikes and civil disobedience, Golan repeated his offer to leaders of other opposition parties to band together. “We’ll build a unified and coherent alternative to the government,” he said.
[IsraelTimes] Authorities have sprayed the putrid substance out of water cannons at Palestinian and Haredi demonstrators for years. Now they’re turning it against political protesters
When Hebrew University professor Nilly Mor joined the throngs of demonstrators protesting near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence on March 20, she was stunned by the brutal police response — which included the use of a controversial crowd control weapon called “Skunk” that has been increasingly seen at anti-government demonstrations.
“They sprayed us directly with a strong jet of foul-smelling water. We were completely drenched… from head to toe in the putrid liquid,” said Mor, who was demonstrating against the government’s renewed military offensive in Gaza.
Protesters who have come into contact with Israel’s Skunk liquid weapon have described the nauseating odor as a “mix of horseshit and sewage.”
“The moment the bo’ash started firing… everyone jumped to their feet and started running away. You can smell it from 100 [yards],” said Tel Aviv resident Itay Manor, using the Hebrew word for “Skunk.”
Skunk — usually sprayed from a high-pressure water cannon truck — has long been a trusted tool of the police, who claim that its use reduces the need for more violent crowd control methods. But use of the liquid on civilians often conflicts with the force’s own regulations, to the detriment not just of protesters but of entire neighborhoods.
“It’s a tool with the goal of punishing the collective. It’s not discerning, it’s not exact,” said Sivan Tahel, a field researcher for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
For years, police made regular use of Skunk against Palestinian and Haredi demonstrators, particularly in Jerusalem. But in summer 2023, they used it during the peak of mass demonstrations against the government’s planned judicial overhaul, prompting concern that it had become the new normal.
Those protests quieted down after the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023, when Gazan terrorists butchered some 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostage to the Strip. At that point, the nation put politics aside and pulled together in the face of the tragedy. But now, with the war dragging into its 19th month and the ruling coalition again setting its sights on a judicial overhaul, anti-government demonstrations have resumed — and with them, the use of Skunk liquid by police.
Skunk has a smell so intense that it can shut down businesses and schools for days. Police guidelines forbid spraying it into “enclosed buildings” and onto “roofs and balconies.” They specify that its use in built-up and dense areas is only as a last resort.
Regardless, law enforcement has a history of flouting these protocols by spraying the liquid onto buildings indiscriminately, especially in Palestinian and Haredi neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
The spray has proven useful for police in quickly dispersing crowds, causing fewer severe injuries than stun grenades or rubber bullets. But those hit with Skunk find that the powerful odor sticks with them long after the protest they participated in has ended.
“It took me two or three showers and laundries to get rid of the smell,” said Manor, who was only lightly doused in 2023 during a Jerusalem protest against the judicial overhaul. “By 10:30 p.m., I was back home in Tel Aviv and took a shower. My wife still made me sleep on the couch.”
Mor recounted the stench lingering on her skin for three days and taking over a week to finally wash out of her hair.
A police spokesperson said that the method allows cops to “avoid resorting to physical force or employing more potentially harmful means.”
The overwhelming force of the water cannon, which police use routinely in Tel Aviv protests, is not nearly as effective at dispersing protests as Skunk liquid blasts.
“It took the Skunk only two minutes to get rid of everyone [in Jerusalem],” Manor said about the 2023 anti-overhaul protest near the Knesset. He was fearful at the time that police would henceforth rely on it more when dealing with anti-overhaul demonstrations after realizing its efficacy.
Mor, a Jerusalem resident and regular protest-goer, said she has felt an uptick in police use of Skunk in recent years.
While protesting for a hostage deal after Hamas’s murder of six hostages in summer 2024, she took a direct hit from the cannon, and she had another close call during the demonstrations that rocked Jerusalem last month.
She noted that Skunk disperses most protesters except a “core group” of activists “who have been hit so many times, so they’re less fazed.”
‘DUNKED IN SEWAGE’
In March 2023, police confronted protesters blocking Karkur Junction with a water cannon that protesters claimed sprayed Skunk. If true, this was the first time police used the liquid against anti-government protesters.
Police classified the machine used at Karkur as a regular water cannon, rather than one containing Skunk. But those on the ground reported a putrid smell.
“People began to shout and run in all directions. I smelled a terrible odor. I was also sprayed with something very smelly that felt like I was dunked in sewage,” said Tamar Ben-Aryeh, who regularly demonstrates at Karkur Junction.
Police said they used “approved water dispersal liquids” at Karkur Junction that day, without further elaboration.
Four months later, in Jerusalem, as the Knesset passed the first law in the judicial overhaul package, police sprayed protesters blocking Begin Road with the pungent liquid.
Ben-Aryeh, who was in the capital that day, picked up on a more potent stench in Jerusalem than she did in Karkur.
“I came a few hours after the police used the Skunk in Jerusalem, but there was still that smell everywhere, much worse than sewage,” she said.
A HARMLESS SUBSTANCE?
Created by Israel’s Odortec, a privately held firm specializing in scent-based repellents for law enforcement, the foul-smelling Skunk liquid debuted in 2008 in the West Bank village of Nil’in when Border Police used it on Palestinian protesters demonstrating against the expansion of the West Bank security barrier.
In 2014, reports began filtering in from East Jerusalem of police spraying Skunk in Palestinian neighborhoods. Around the same time, US media reported that police departments in St. Louis, Missouri, and elsewhere had begun purchasing the spray.
Jerusalem police expanded their application of the method in 2017, using it to scatter demonstrations against the military draft in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.
On the surface, Skunk liquid is composed of water, yeast and baking soda, fermented in an oxygen-deprived environment.
[IsraelTimes] Hamas agency claims 25 killed, including women and children, in multiple strikes on encampments used by displaced Gazans; IDF has no immediate comment
The chief of Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... ’s smuggling unit was killed in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in southern 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... ’s Khan Younis earlier this week, the IDF and Shin Bet said Thursday, while also announcing the killing of a prominent 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... member last week.
Yahya Fathi Abd al-Qader Abu Shaar, who worked in recent years to smuggle weapons and other military equipment for Hamas, including equipment used during the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, was killed on Tuesday, the IDF said.
The IDF released footage of the strike.
The military said another strike in Khan Younis last week killed a leading member of the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad terror group, which is allied with Hamas and also participated in the October 7 onslaught.
Mazen Ibraheem Mahfouz Farah had directed "significant" terror attacks in Israel over the past two years, and especially in recent months, according to the IDF.
In both strikes, the IDF said it took numerous steps to mitigate civilian harm, including the use of a "precision munition, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence."
Additionally, a Hamas operative at one of the terror group’s command centers was targeted in an airstrike in northern Gaza’s Jabalia on Thursday, the IDF and Shin Bet said on Thursday.
Paleostinian media reported that the strike hit a school in Jabalia that served as a shelter for displaced Gazooks. The reports said six people were killed and several others were maimed in the attack.
The command center had been used by the terror operative "to plan and carry out terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops," the military said.
The IDF said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including the use of a "precision munition, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence."
"The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law while taking over civilian infrastructure, and while brutally exploiting the civilian population as a human shield for its terror attacks," the military added.
HAMAS TRAINING CAMP DESTROYED
Troops of the Golani Brigade operating in the newly created Morag Corridor area, between Rafah and Khan Younis, have demolished a Hamas training camp, the military said Thursday.
The facility, belonging to Hamas’s Shaboura Battalion, included a mock Israeli tank, photos released by the IDF showed.
The IDF said the troops also captured a cache of weapons and destroyed other Hamas infrastructure in the area.
The IDF said that a total of some 110 targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force in Gaza over the past two days.
The targets included cells of terror operatives and infrastructure used by Hamas and other terror groups, according to the military.
Wednesday night, a building belonging to Hamas’s naval force in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, which the IDF said was used to plan attacks on Israel, was struck.
HAMAS-RUN AGENCY: IDF STRIKES ON ENCAMPMENTS KILL 25
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled civil defense agency claimed Thursday that Israeli airstrikes hit multiple encampments for displaced Paleostinians across the territory, allegedly killing at least 25 people.
Agency front man Mahmoud Bassal said an overnight strike Wednesday-Thursday targeted several tents in the al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Younis, resulting in 16 deaths.
"At least 16 deaders, most of them women and kiddies, and 23 others were maimed following a direct strike by two Israeli missiles on several tents housing displaced families in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis," Bassal told AFP.
Survivors described a large explosion at the densely packed encampment zone that set multiple tents ablaze.
"We were sitting peacefully in the tent, under God’s protection, when we suddenly saw something red glowing — and then the tent went kaboom!, and the surrounding tents caught fire," Israa Abu al-Rus told AFP.
"This is supposed to be a safe area in al-Mawasi," Abu al-Rus said. "We fled the tent towards the sea and saw the tents burning."
According to Bassal, two additional strikes on other encampments of displaced people have killed nine and maimed several more.
Seven were killed in a strike on tents in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, while another attack near the al-Mawasi area killed a father and his child who were living in a tent, Bassal said.
[ShabelleMedia] Somalia’s National Communications Authority has granted a license to Elon Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink, paving the way for the launch of its services in the country.
The license was officially awarded during a ceremony Sunday in Mogadishu, attended by government officials and Starlink representatives, according to a statement from the authority.
Representing the company were Ryan Goodnight, senior director of market access, and Micaela Pawlak, market access manager. They said Starlink’s satellite internet services would soon be available nationwide.
Mustafa Yasin Sheikh, director of the Communications Authority, said Starlink’s arrival would support the country’s efforts to expand internet access and improve digital infrastructure.
While Somalia is already connected to several undersea internet cables, officials said the addition of satellite-based service will help extend connectivity to rural and remote areas.
"We have been in talks with this company (Starlink) for a period of two and half years. We gave them the licence today," Mustafa Yasiin, director of communication in the telecommunications ministry said in a video posted on state news agency SONNA's Facebook account on Sunday.
"We hope Starlink will increase the quality of the existing internet in Somalia and will make the internet service reach more remote areas," he added.
[IsraelTimes] Russian leader tells Sasha Troufanov, his mother and partner of ‘need to express words of gratitude’ to political heads of terror group who murdered his father during Oct. 7 attack
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... met Wednesday evening with freed hostage Sasha Troufanov at the Kremlin in Moscow, along with his mother, Elena Trufanova, and partner, Sapir Cohen, both of whom are also former captives.
"The fact that you managed to go free is the result of the fact that Russia has stable, long-term relations with the Paleostinian people, with its representatives, and with a wide variety of organizations," Putin told the ex-hostages in a video clip from the meeting published by the state-funded RT television network.
He also hailed Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... for its "humanitarian act" of releasing them: "We need to express words of gratitude to the leadership of the political wing of Hamas for cooperating with us and carrying out this humanitarian act."
"We will do everything to ensure that such acts happen as often as possible and that all the people who are still in the same conditions that you had been in... are also released," Putin added, sighing deeply in response to Troupanov telling him that he was 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... for 498 days.
Troufanov and Cohen were taken hostage by Paleostinian faceless myrmidons from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, along with Sasha’s mother and grandmother Irena Tati, while his father and Elana’s husband Vitaly Troufanov was murdered during the Hamas-led atrocities.
The three women were freed during a November 2023 ceasefire, with Trufanova and Tati released in a gesture to Putin, while Sasha Troufanov was returned from Gaza in February amid the multi-phase truce agreement mediated by the United States, 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... and Egypt that collapsed in March.
The meeting at the Kremlin was also attended by the Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia Alexander Boroda, according to Putin’s office, which published a video of the meeting alongside a readout with little substantial information.
Russia has ties to all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, and Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... , as well as the Paleostinian Authority and Hamas.
Days before Troufanov’s release from 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... captivity in February, a deputy Russian foreign minister met with a senior Hamas official in Moscow and urged the terror group to keep "promises" to release Troufanov, a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, and Maxim Herkin, a current Israeli hostage from the Donbas area of Ukraine who has Russian relatives.
Earlier this month, Hamas released a propaganda video featuring Herkin and fellow hostage Bar Kupershtein, the first sign of life from both men since they were kidnapped by faceless myrmidons from the Nova music festival near Re’im.
Herkin, who was 35 at the time of his abduction, has a three-year-old daughter, and was the primary provider for his mother and 11-year-old brother. He attended the Nova festival by chance, invited by friends at the last minute. It was the first time he had gone to a rave.
In February, a top Hamas leader said that Herkin would be prioritized during the second stage of the hostage deal, if it were to be signed, as a gesture to the Russian government. However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... the agreement between Israel and Hamas fell apart after its first stage, with Israel renewing the fighting in Gaza last month.
Including Herkin and Kupershtein, 24 hostages are believed to still be alive of the 59 total hostages that remain in captivity in Gaza.
[ShabelleMedia] A pirate group fired shots towards a bulker as part of a two-hour pursuit in the Gulf of Aden.
The master of the unnamed Palau-flagged ship reported being followed by several gunnies in multiple small boats, maritime security companies Africa Risk Compliance (ARC) and Diaplous Group said.
The incident occurred in a stretch of water between Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... and Somalia.
The captain altered course toward the Yemeni coastline and the small craft left the area.
The crew was reported to be safe and the bulker carried on to its next port of call.
Authorities are investigating the incident.
In February, vessels were alerted to a potential renewal of the piracy threat off the coast of Somalia.
Maritime intelligence company Ambrey Analytics said it has become aware of a suspected pirate action group sighted departing Marreya on the Eyl coast.
Ambrey urged merchant vessels to increase vigilance, ensure adherence to best management practices and engage armed security personnel where possible.
The company had earlier reported that a dhow in the region was boarded and robbed by armed individuals who stole three small boats, each equipped with a 60-horsepower engine.
The Red Sea, West Africa and the Singapore Strait have all been of more concern to vessels in terms of attacks and piracy than Somalia in recent months.
In January, a Chinese fishing boat hijacked by armed Somali robbers at the end of November was released to head for home.
The Liao Dong Yu was "liberated", the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... ’s Atalanta naval force (EUNAVFOR) said in a social media post, citing the Chinese embassy in Somalia.
There were 18 seafarers on the Liao Dong Yu when assailants carrying AK-47s and machine guns boarded it just off the coast on 27 November, in the first recorded piracy event off Somalia in six months.
[Garowe] The number of piracy incidents within Somali waters has raised concerns among members of the international community, with a report from the anti-piracy body painting a picture of a troubled coastline along the Indian Ocean.
On February 7 and March 16, two fishing vessels and a dhow were hijacked within Somali waters, leading to questions about the safety and stability of the region, which serves as a gateway to the Horn of Africa.
The report by the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) shows that 26 crew members were taken hostage, further showcasing the dangers posed by the pirates in the country.
“The IMB advises ships navigating these waters to exercise caution and to strictly follow the latest version of the Industry Best Management Practice,” the IMB said. According to the agency, all crew members and the vessels have been released.
Vessel owners and operators have been cautioned against complacency, but the international navies continue to coordinate activities across the waters to make the waters safer in line with safety standards.
“Although three Somali piracy incidents have been recorded, several hijackings of dhows and fishing vessels may have gone unreported,” the IMB said.
IMB has also cautioned users on the Gulf of Guinea waters as the crew risk piracy cases, although the number of reported incidents within the region and adjoining littoral states continues to be at its lowest in nearly two decades.
“All 13 kidnapped crew were reported in these waters in two separate attacks, with a total of six incidents reported in the first quarter of the year,” the IMB said.
“While we welcome the reduction of incidents, the safety of crew members in the Gulf of Guinea remains at greater risk. It is essential to maintain a strong regional and international naval presence to address these incidents and ensure the protection of seafarers,” IMB Director Michael Howlett said.
Piracy cases have, however, reduced significantly in comparison with the last two decades, when Somali waters were extremely dangerous. The government of Somalia is also training naval crews, who are important in the fight against piracy.
[IsraelTimes] Qatar is sending scores of military vehicles to the Lebanese army and a new, $60 million donation to help it pay salaries to officers as Lebanon recovers from the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group’s latest war with Israel, the two Arab countries announce.
The statement by Qatar and Lebanon says 162 military vehicles will be sent to the Lebanese army to help the military “carry out its national duties to preserve stability and control the border.”
Gas-rich Qatar has been a main backer of the Lebanese army since an unprecedented economic crisis engulfed the country in late 2019. Qatar was first sending food aid for the military while cash donations began in 2022.
Hezbollah launched its own attacks on Israel, unprovoked, a day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, 2023, with the Palestinian terror group’s onslaught in southern Israel.
After 14 months, a US-brokered ceasefire halted the Hezbollah-Israel war, which caused destruction that will take $11 billion to rebuild, according to the World Bank.
Since the November ceasefire, Lebanon has elected a new president and prime minister, who have both promised to carry out reforms.
[IsraelTimes] Lebanese army says Palestinians among those held over incidents that Hezbollah denied responsibility for; Hamas acknowledges detentions, but denies those arrested were involved
The Lebanese military said Wednesday it has detained a group of people linked to firing rockets into Israel last month.
The army said in a statement that those detained included a number of Palestinians who were involved in firing rockets in two separate attacks toward Israel in late March, to which Israel responded with airstrikes in Beirut and southern Lebanon.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group denied at the time that it was behind the firing of rockets.
Since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in late November ended their 14-month conflict, Israel has withdrawn all its troops from Lebanon, except five strategic posts, but has continued, as is permitted by the deal, to strike Hezbollah targets it deems imminent threats.
The Lebanese army said that a vehicle and other equipment used in the rocket attacks were confiscated, and the detainees were referred to judicial authorities. The army said it had carried out raids in different parts of Lebanon to detain the suspects without giving further details.
On Thursday, the state-run National News Agency reported that Gen. Rodolph Haikal briefed a weekly cabinet meeting about the security situation along the border and the implementation of the ceasefire deal.
Three security officials and one judicial official told The Associated Press that four Palestinians linked to the Hamas terror group are being questioned.
A Hamas official told the AP that several members of the group were detained in Lebanon recently and released shortly afterward, adding that they were not involved in firing rockets into Israel. He said in one case, authorities detained a Hamas member who was carrying an unlicensed pistol.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
On Tuesday, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that at least 71 civilians, including 14 women and nine children, have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect.
Israel says strikes in Lebanon since the November ceasefire target Hezbollah and other terror operatives violating the agreement, and aim to prevent the terror group from rebuilding its infrastructure in the country. According to the Israeli military, since the ceasefire began, more than 120 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in strikes.
Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos said Thursday in a press conference following a cabinet meeting that Lebanon has recorded 2,740 Israeli violations of the ceasefire and that 190 people have been killed and 485 injured in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began. He did not specify how many were civilians.
[ShabelleMedia] Somali government forces, backed by South West State’s Darwish troops, killed more than 35 al-Shabaab fighters in a joint operation near Baidoa, officials said Thursday.
The military said the operation targeted a group of militants who were preparing to carry out an attack in the Baay Burjeed area, roughly 15 kilometers from Baidoa, the interim capital of South West State. A foreign commander reportedly leading the unit was among those killed.
At least 60 others were injured during the fighting, while troops recovered the bodies of 18 militants, including several senior figures. Operations are ongoing to track down those who fled the scene, the statement said.
Officials hailed the operation as a major blow to al-Shabaab and credited cooperation from the local population for its success.
[IsraelTimes] The German government says it has evacuated a group of 24 Germans and their close family members from the war-battered Gaza Strip.
“After months of being stuck in Gaza, a group of 24 Germans and their family members were able to leave Gaza today in close coordination with the Israeli authorities,” a spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry says.
Nine members of the group are understood to be German citizens, while the rest are Palestinian family members.
The group was taken by bus through Israel and the West Bank to Jordan, where they will take a flight to Germany, the spokeswoman says.
Foreign ministry spokesman Christian Wagner earlier told journalists that “roughly two dozen” Germans were leaving the territory.
Today’s evacuation is the third carried out by Germany since the closure of the Rafah border crossing in May 2024.
In total, the German government has enabled almost 700 Germans and their family members to leave Gaza since October 7, 2023.
[ShabelleMedia] In a joint operation, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) collaborated with the Federal Government of Somalia to execute a precision airstrike against vessels laden with advanced military equipment destined for al-Shabaab.
The operation took place in Somali territorial waters, targeting an unflagged ship and a smaller support craft. These vessels were transporting modern weaponry that posed a significant threat to the security of Somalia and its international partners engaged in peacebuilding initiatives.
Initial assessments from AFRICOM indicate that all individuals aboard both vessels were neutralized, with no reported civilian casualties.
[Garowe] On Wednesday, the Somali National Army (SNA) abandoned the strategic village of Aboorey, which has been the epicentre of fierce shootout with the al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... , with the soldiers moving out of Yasooman after the gunnies gained control.
And even before synthesising the sad development, government forces also abandoned frontlines in Adan Yabaal, another strategic location in the fight against the group. Before the takeover, it had been raining, effectively disrupting aerial surveillance.
Multiple sources confirmed that the heavy rains, besides affecting surveillance, also reduced visibility, with the gunnies storming the military base from Galharuur, Ceel Muluq, and al-Kawthar directions. The gunnies used at least 12 APCs and Russian ZU-23 guns to penetrate defenses.
At the time of the raid at Adan Yabaal, General Odawaa Yusuf Rageh, the chief of the military tribunals, Colonel Hassan Ali Shuute, and several federal and regional parliamentarians, and multiple were within the town but are safe. Soldiers injured in the attack have since been taken to Mogadishu.
For the last two months, the al-Shabaab gunnies have intensified campaigns to seize more strategic areas within central and southern regions, leading to force confrontations with the Somali National Army (SNA) and local Macawislay fighters.
Military experts insist that the government recover from recent losses, temporarily withdraw from some of the forward operating bases to minimise further losses, regroup and reorganise the army, and narrow the focus are needed urgently.
BUT WHY IS THE MILITARY LOSING?
The recent losses by the SNA can be attributed to the dysfunctional command and control within the formation — the recent SNA command change led to uncertainty and prolonged fighting, including the sacking of General Odowaa Yusuf Rage, only to reappoint him later.
General Odowaa, a fierce land force officer, was hounded out of office during the operations against al-shabaab, only to bounce back in November 2024, when the government operations in various frontlines had stalled due to a lack of proper command.
Throughout this period, multiple sources said, unit commanders were either sacked or reshuffled, leading to confusion, disrupted preparations, and training with no clear command in such critical circumstances.
Military theorists also argue that prioritising Ma’awisley fighters during the recruitment and training of thousands of soldiers was a major strategic error. The local fighters who liberated their areas should have been central to the recruitment, experts say.
For instance, during the push into Galmudug ...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth... , the role of local fighters was reduced as the government mainly focused on its soldiers in preparations. In Middle Shabelle and Hiran, the local fighters were in the lead in the charge against al-Shabaab.
The damage was also witnessed in Galmudug they were playing a secondary role. The government scored more successes in Hiran and Middle Shabelle compared to Galmudug, experts further told security analyst Harun Maruf.
As the government trained more soldiers, the presence of AU forces in Middle Shabelle was reduced. It’s now obvious that newly trained government forces with only about 3 months of training were not ready to take over security responsibilities from the AU forces, experts argue.
CHANGE OF FOCUS IN OPERATIONS
Besides the confusion in the command, experts also believe the decision by the government to turn its focus from the offensive against al-Shabaab to controversial constitutional amendments, which created friction between stakeholders, may have disrupted the unity and the support the government received in its fight against al-Shabaab.
The biggest damage from these setbacks is perhaps the potential loss of confidence in the government by the ordinary people who stood up and took the side of the government against al-Shabaab in these areas. The ordinary people were critical in the sharing of intelligence during the crackdown.
But despite these setbacks, the government militia still controls some of the areas seized since 2022, in Middle Shabelle, Hiran regions, Galgudud, and Mudug regions. In Hiran, local fighters seized vast areas in the countryside and are still holding those areas.
But with Wednesday's fall of Adan Yabaal, al-Shabaab regained most areas it lost in Middle Shabelle since 2022, except Nur Dugle and Wargaadhi, which are still in government hands. In the neighbouring Galgudud and Mudug regions, the government still holds Masagaway, El-Dheer, and Harardhere.
Annoyingly, the Somali army has been sacrificing a lot, losing many men and women, from 15 May school opposite the Presidential Palace, all the way to Harardhere. They have been rebuilding while also fighting.
Security experts interviewed certainly have confidence that the army will continue the fight and have better days. Central to this will be the level and quality of leadership and political support they receive, with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud exuding confidence that the country would eventually defeat al-Shabaab.
[Remix] For the first time, Muslim students are the largest religious group in Vienna’s schools, underlining the incredible demographic transformation taking place in the Austrian city. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) is now raising the alarm.
Muslim students now account for 41.2 percent of all students, while Christian students fell to 34.5 percent. The trend is only growing, and is accompanied by rising problems, including violence in schools, anti-Semitism, and contempt for women.
The data was obtained from the office of Bettina Emmerling, the city councilor responsible for education. Last year, the proportion of students of Islamic faith was 39.4 percent, but now, for the first time, it has crossed 40 percent, reports Exxpress.
Meanwhile, the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) is raising the alarm about the rapid demographic change in Austria and Vienna.
"Austrians will soon be strangers in their own country," said Hannes Amesbauer, security spokesman for the FPÖ.
FPÖ National Council member Maximilian Weinzierl, the FPÖ youth spokesperson and federal chairman of the Freedom Party Youth said:
"What we as the FPÖ have been warning about for decades, but which was always dismissed as right-wing scaremongering, is now reality: Immigration has completely overrun our country....41.2 percent of Muslim students — that’s no longer a minority, that’s the new majority. And it’s not just that Austrian children have become a minority in schools. Even together with other Christian European migrants, they are fewer than non-European Muslims. This is the direct result of replacement migration, asylum abuse, and the denial of reality by the SPÖ, ÖVP, and Greens.
In more and more school classes, German is a second language, and our values are becoming increasingly secondary. Our children are being marginalized by migrants. This is no longer immigration, this is displacement."
[WhiteHouse.gov] THE ORIGIN
“The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” publication — which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory — was prompted by Dr. Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated naturally.
1.
The virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature.
2.
Data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans. This runs contrary to previous pandemics where there were multiple spillover events.
3.
Wuhan is home to China’s foremost SARS research lab, which has a history of conducting gain-of-function research (gene altering and organism supercharging) at inadequate biosafety levels.
4.
Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) researchers were sick with COVID-like symptoms in the fall of 2019, months before COVID-19 was discovered at the wet market.
5.
By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn’t.
[FoxNews] Agency says many arrests came after authorities refused to honor ICE immigration detainers and released illegals back into community
ICE and several federal law enforcement agencies arrested over 200 illegal aliens in an "enhanced immigration enforcement operation" in the "most crime-infested neighborhoods" in and around New York City in just one week this month.
According to a statement by ICE released on Wednesday, 206 illegal immigrants, the majority of whom have "egregious criminal histories to include manslaughter, rape, assault, drug trafficking and sex assault against minors," were apprehended as part of the operation.
The operation took place in New York City and throughout Long Island and the Lower Hudson Valley region between April 6-12.
According to the ICE statement, the agency and partners targeted "egregious criminal alien offenders," including transnational criminal organizations like the recently designated international terrorist organizations MS-13 and Tren de Aragua as well as the violent Sureños and 18th Street gangs.
The agency said many of the arrests were made after local authorities in New York refused to honor immigration detainers filed by ICE and instead released the illegals back into the community.
Of the 206 arrested, ICE said 121 had major criminal convictions or are currently facing charges for murder, assault, arson, sex crimes, drug crimes and firearms crimes.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who is running for re-election as an independent, appeared to back ICE's arrests of criminal illegals, telling Fox News that the left is making a mistake by diverging from the sentiments of the majority of New Yorkers that illegal criminals and gang members should be taken off the streets.
"One of the big mistakes that's being made in some parts of the far-left philosophy is that ICE is a criminal organization. They are not, they are part of our law enforcement community," he said, adding, "We have to get bad, dangerous people off our streets."
Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García, D- Ill., downplayed violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants as merely "immigrants committing a few crimes" in a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement hearing last week.
Earlier this week, Mayor Brandon Johnson defended the city’s choice to remain a sanctuary for undocumented migrants..."Violence is down, investments are up, and we’ll continue to move in that direction to build a more inclusive economy for everyone," Johnson said.
[FoxNews] Under the order, DOGE staffers may still access Social Security data that's been redacted or stripped of anything personally identifiable
A federal judge in Baltimore issued a preliminary injunction Thursday restricting the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to Social Security data.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander, an Obama appointee, said DOGE-affiliated staffers must purge any of the non-anonymized Social Security data that they have received since Jan. 20. They are also barred from making any changes to the computer code or software used by the Social Security Administration, must remove any software or code they might have already installed, and are forbidden from disclosing any of that code to others.
The injunction does allow DOGE staffers to access data that's been redacted or stripped of anything personally identifiable, if they undergo training and background checks.
"The objective to address fraud, waste, mismanagement, and bloat is laudable, and one that the American public presumably applauds and supports," Hollander wrote in the ruling issued late Thursday night. "Indeed, the taxpayers have every right to expect their government to make sure that their hard earned money is not squandered."
But that's not the issue, Hollander said — the issue is with how DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk, wants to do the work.
"For some 90 years, SSA has been guided by the foundational principle of an expectation of privacy with respect to its records. This case exposes a wide fissure in the foundation," the judge wrote.
The case was brought by a group of labor unions and retirees who allege DOGE's recent actions violate privacy laws and present massive information security risks.
During a federal court hearing Tuesday in Baltimore, Hollander repeatedly asked the government's attorneys why DOGE needs "seemingly unfettered access" to the agency's troves of sensitive personal information to uncover Social Security fraud.
"What is it we're doing that needs all of that information?" Hollander said, questioning whether most of the data could be anonymized.
Attorneys for the Trump administration said changing the process would slow down their efforts.
"While anonymization is possible, it is extremely burdensome," Justice Department attorney Bradley Humphreys told the court. He argued the DOGE access doesn't deviate significantly from normal practices inside the agency, where employees and auditors are routinely allowed to search its databases.
But attorneys for the plaintiffs called it "a sea change" in terms of how the agency handles sensitive information.
Skye Perryman, President and CEO of the legal services group Democracy Forward, which is behind the lawsuit, said the ruling has brought "significant relief for the millions of people who depend on the Social Security Administration to safeguard their most personal and sensitive information."
Hollander made clear that her order didn't apply to SSA workers who aren't affiliated with DOGE, so they can still access any data they use in the course of ordinary work. But DOGE staffers who want access to the anonymized data must first undergo the typical training and background checks required of other Social Security Administration staffers, she said.
Hollander, 75, is the latest judge to consider a DOGE-related case. Many of her inquiries Tuesday focused on whether the Social Security case differs significantly from another Maryland case challenging DOGE's access to data at three other agencies: the Education Department, the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management. In that case, an appeals court recently blocked a preliminary injunction and cleared the way for DOGE to once again access people's private data.
Hollander's injunction could also be appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with the Trump administration in other cases, including allowing DOGE access to the U.S. Agency for International Development and letting executive orders against diversity, equity and inclusion move forward.
[Townhall] Despite leftist U.S. District Judge James Boasberg finding probable cause to hold the Trump administration in contempt of court on Wednesday for violating his previous order, Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz believes Boasberg should be the one held in contempt instead "for issuing such a vague order." Boasberg never issued a binding order, Dershowitz explained.
Look, I've been practicing law for 60 years, and what I was always taught is you follow the judge's written order. And as I understand it, there was no written order requiring bringing back these folks," Dershowitz told Newsmax. "He's flexing his muscle. He will be reversed on appeal. The United States Supreme Court is not going to allow criminal contempt against an administration for violating as vague an order as was allegedly violated in this case."
Articles of Impeachment were introduced against Boasberg by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) last month.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/18/2025
09:18 ||
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[FinancialPost] Russia’s ruble has surged to become the best performing global currency, posting this year’s strongest gains against the U.S. dollar to outpace even the traditional safe haven of gold. The uncertainty is temporary — enjoy it while you can, guys. The arbitrageurs certainly will.
#3
The ruble has a very limited number of businesses and countries, outside of Russia, that are willing to use it for trade that it's very easy for the Bank of Russia to manipulate it.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/18/2025 16:45
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You mean the Fed/US Treasury doesn't manipulate the US dollar?
We're in the middle of Holy Week and that always brings me back to my Easter Duty story.
"Easter Duty" is the Catholic equivalent a "Get out Of Jail Free" card.
My wife goes to Confession almost every week. Me, not so much. I'm sure the priests are sick of her rattling off her puny sins as an excuse to make conversation with the padres. They know it's her; they see her every day when she is a Eucharistic Minister or Lector at daily and sometimes even Sunday masses.
While I would argue that the "lovely Mary" is not a big sinner, she's as close to perfect as I'll ever encounter. Of course I am a different story. I've broken all the commandments on a regular basis for years, but I like the mercy Our Lord shows if we only make it once a year. The Easter Duty is kind of like the bill collector who texts you with a "friendly reminder" that you have not paid up in a good while. Ain't nothin' "friendly" about it.
So, I usually wait until Holy Week to hit the confessional box and "make my Easter duty,"
I don‘t go in for any of the modern face to face crap either, I like going into the privacy of the box where it's dark and mysterious. Also, it's mandatory to go to confession at a church where they don't know me. I can sneak in and sneak out with my indulgences and stroll to my car back to my own neighborhood a couple miles away.
I guess that comes from a bad experience I had with a priest back in New York City right after I got married. I hadn't been to confession in many years and when I saw the Chinese priest enter the confessional box from across the aisles, I knew this was my chance. I thought to myself, "Geesh this Chinaman probably barely speaks English," I thought as I flopped to my knees in the darkness and started rattling off a lifetime of mortal sins, probably about ten years' worth for sure. It was at the Church of The Holy Cross in Hell's Kitchen and right down the street from my favorite Blarney Rock pub on 42nd Street where my old pal Mike Monaghan would crack wise with me while he was bartending. After years of listening to rummies stories at the bar, Mike had probably heard more confessions than this Chinese priest over the years.
So, I spew my decades of debauchery into the darkness and wind up with "and for these sins and all the sins of my past life, I am truly sorry."
So, I figure a quick Act of Contrition and I'm outta there, but then the Chinaman sez to me, "Where do you live?"
Uh oh. "Whoa whoa whoa, pal. You ain't supposed to ask stuff like that."
I'm sitting there thinking, Geesh I can't lie while I'm IN the confessional box, so I start to back pedal and tell him, "Sorry father I've been away from the church for years, but I just got married recently at St. Malachy's the Actor's Chapel and have done a full 180. So, ya see…" And he cuts me off.
"Where do you live?"
Finally, I blurted out my address at 400 West 43rd Street.
Now he is yelling, "That's right across the street! You got married without going to confession first, that's blasphemy! This is your parish; you must go to confession here!
Now I was pissed off and barked, "Hey are you gonna absolve me or not?'
He mellowed a bit and doled out my penance, a full-on Rosary for cryin' out loud and reminded me, "You not a parishioner at St. Malachy, you go here Holy Cross, this is your parish!"
Thanks Father, sure I'll be a regular here for sure.
So fast forward over forty years and my most recent Easter Duty story. Once again it is Easter season but this time in Chicago and I went downtown to St. Peter's in the Loop on Madison Street.
The place is packed with long lines outside each confessional, everybody making their Easter Duty. I hate waiting but don't want another Chinese surprise and spy two little old ladies waiting in line at one of the confessional boxes. Slam dunk I figure, it ain't like they're gonna be in there long with hardly any sins, so I take up my position behind them with a smile.
Big Mistake! Both were in there gabbing with the priest for over a half hour each. I looked around, it was still the shortest line, but it wasn't moving very fast, and I had places to be!
Finally, the last little old lady comes out and I hear her sweetly intone, "Thank you father!" with a big smile on her face as I slide past her to the kneeler.
"Bless me father for I have sinned, it's been about a year since my last confession, I guess I have sinned a lot, but mostly having anger issues, lose my temper a lot."
Priest sez to me, "Oh you got anger issues? What are you angry about?"
"I'll tell ya what makes me angry Father, you playing Doctor Phil with those two old ladies before me in line while everybody wants to get in to confess. What the hell, no wonder this place is so crowded, I doubt those old ladies had any big sins to confess!"
And he sez, believe it or not, "Hey, that's BULLSHIT!" Settle down ya big jerk!" Honest to God, that's what he said….so now I'm apologizing and back pedaling and asking forgiveness and he finally sez, "for your penance five Hail Mary's and come back with a better attitude."
I'm researching churches for my Easter Duty now, hope it's not too far of a drive. Happy Easter everybody!'
Just a fun read for 'those in the know'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/18/2025
08:22 ||
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The cause is that the equipment has not been maintained for decades.
[JustTheNews] The outage happened during the day on Wednesday and resulted in 1.4 million customers being without electricity.
Crews are continuing to work Thursday in Puerto Rico to restore power after the island was hit by a blackout that has impacted hospitals and the main international airport.
As of now, the cause of the blackout is not known.
The outage happened during the day on Wednesday and resulted in 1.4 million customers being without electricity, according to CBS News.
Hundreds of thousands of people don't have water.
The local utility, Luma Energy reported that as of 6 a.m., about 609,000 customers now have service restored.
"Our crews will continue working throughout the day today with the goal of restoring service to 90% of our customers within 48 hours, conditions permitting," the company said.
Luma Energy said it was investigating the cause of the blackout.
The blackout is the second island-wide blackout that has hit Puerto Rico in four months.
[JustTheNews] The judge who has emerged as a top foe of Trump's deportation efforts previously let a well-known Trump-Russia collusion hoax proponent off the hook. But newly-declassified Crossfire Hurricane records show the FBI's Kevin Clinesmith was deeply involved in in the bogus Russiagate saga.
Convicted FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith — whom Judge James Boasberg gave a slap on the wrist for his crimes years before becoming a public foe of President Donald Trump’s deportation policies — was more deeply involved in the deeply flawed Crossfire Hurricane investigation than previously known.
Clinesmith, who worked on both the FBI’s Hillary Clinton email investigation and on the Trump-Russia collusion inquiry, pleaded guilty to falsifying a document during the bureau’s efforts to renew FISA authority to wiretap Carter Page, who was an adviser to Trump's 2016 campaign.
Newly-declassified details about Clinesmith’s involvement include a wide swath of information about his role in the case. He was a key go-to for former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and fired FBI special agent Peter Strzok throughout the debunked collusion saga and a main driver in obtaining a FISA warrant against Page based on the infamous Steele dossier.
Clinesmith also granted his seal of approval on a document describing the FBI’s pretextual briefing of then-candidate Trump, was deeply involved in the investigation into retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, played a role in going after former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, and more. He also helped the FBI push its “Cross Wind” investigation, which Just the News can confirm related to the targeting of security expert Walid Phares, which resulted in no accusations of wrongdoing and no charges.
KNEE-DEEP IN THE MUD
Clinesmith confessed in August 2020 that he had manipulated a CIA email in 2017 to state that Carter Page was “not a source” for the CIA when that agency had actually told the bureau on multiple occasions that Page was in fact an “operational contact” for the CIA.
Boasberg, the federal judge who is blocking Trump’s efforts to deport Venezuelan gang members, also played a key and controversial role in the aftermath of the Trump-Russia collusion saga as the leader of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The judge, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by then-President Barack Obama in 2011, is currently engaged in an all-out legal battle with the Trump Justice Department.
But in his role as the head of the FISA Court he made a number of divisive decisions, including a slap on the wrist for a member of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane team, the appointment of officials who had defended the FBI’s actions during the Russiagate saga, the renewal of the FBI’s FISA powers, and more.
BOASBERG DEFENDS CLINESMITH
Boasberg ruled this week that “probable cause exists” to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt after they violated his orders by continuing deportation flights. But his ruling follows the Supreme Court holding that Boasberg's court was in an improper venue for the case altogether.
Boasberg, in his role as a federal judge, denied the Justice Department’s efforts to seek up to six months behind bars for Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty in Special Counsel John Durham’s Trump-Russia investigation — instead giving Clinesmith a year of probation, 400 hours of community service, and no fine.
The remaining subheds:
Collaboration on the Carter Page FISA
Clinesmith altered docs, hid information from FISA court
Sign off on doc detailing pretextual briefing of Trump
Clinesmith Targets Flynn
Leaks and unmasking
"Out to get Trump"
Steele Dossier dissemination
Clinesmith and Papadopoulos
Strzok establishes a pattern of untruths
“Cross Wind”
Clinesmith: "Viva le resistance"
Comey arranges leaks to media
The Crossfire docs a profitable venture
[ZERO] Washington is now accusing China of getting in bed with the Iran-backed Shia Houthis of Yemen, who have long waged a war against Red Sea shipping, including attacks on US warships and Israel.
The US State Department on Thursday issued allegations centered on Chinese firm, Chang Guang Satellite Technology, saying it is directly supporting attacks by Houthi fighters against American interests. This firm is well-known to be close to the CCP government, and is already under Western sanctions.
"We can confirm the reporting that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company Limited (CGSTL) is directly supporting Iran-backed Houthi terrorist attacks on U.S. interests," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a press briefing.
[BIZPACREVIEW] Working remotely just took on a whole new meaning for one Democratic city attorney, who is performing her duties while on a cruise ship.
Assistant City Attorney of San Diego Jean Jordan, 65, was approved to earn an eye-popping $300,000 a year while sailing the high seas. She will be performing her duties while on a luxury cruise ship, where she will not only continue to receive benefits but will also be accruing vacation time. I really, really need a job in San Diego.
Jordan agreed to stay in her position as opposed to retiring, and has been away from land since January. The approval for this head-scratching arrangement came from her boss, Democrat City Attorney Heather Ferbert, who explained to Daily Mail that she is in ''constant contact'' with the assistant city attorney.
When the outlet attempted to contact Jordan via email, they received an automated response indicating she was ''out of office'' until the following day.
''Thank you for your email. I am out of the office today April 14, 2025. I will not have access to email or voicemail. I will return April 15, 2025. If you have an urgent matter please contact Leslie FitzGerald,'' Daily Mail reported, noting that the provided email address to contact her colleague had her name spelled incorrectly.
Former city lawyer Marlea Dell'Anno said people are ''outraged'' by luxury working conditions.
''I can't tell you how many people have called me or emailed me about this. People are outraged!'' she said. ''I don't understand how as a leader you could ever think that's a good idea. How is the work getting done? You're talking about an executive and a taxpayer-funded position.''
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
01:56 ||
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#1
This has to result in a recall petition for her boss, otherwise, things will just get crazier.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/18/2025 8:11
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#2
Another day in Sandy Eggo.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/18/2025 8:53
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#3
The deluxe internet package on a cruise ship is not cheap. Is she paying for that out of her $300k?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/18/2025 8:55
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#4
Cruise Ship internet is about $15 to $30 per day, according to our neighbors (who do cruise a bit).
Also told that it's not really that fast or that secure.
They also told me that one guy tried to bring his own starlink on board, but it was impounded until he returned. The cruise lines don't want competition.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/18/2025 9:33
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#5
Despite all that, I'd never go on one.
Probably less microbes and other toxins in a city sewer.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/18/2025 9:34
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#6
all required work could be performed remotely on a temporary basis with no impact on office operations.”
So what you are saying, is the office itself is not financially efficient?
#7
Here's a money quote: Newly elected City Attorney Heather Ferbert promoted one of her top deputies [another attrny] to a freshly created executive position paying almost $300,000 a year and permitted her to work remotely during an extended sea cruise around the world.
#9
Heather Ferbert - American lawyer and San Diego City Attorney since 2024
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/18/2025 16:45
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#10
NB: I did a short 36-yr tenure for San Diego. This will not end well for Jordan or Ferbert. Jordan will retire before she disembarks and Ferbert will be diminished for her entire term
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/18/2025 19:54
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[BREITBART] A Democrat House member called on Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... over his administration's handling of a Supreme Court decision from earlier this month ordering the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man in the United States illegally but who was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
''Despite this ruling, the Supreme Court has no enforcement power, meaning the Trump administration can choose to ignore that demand,'' WGME reported.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg subsequently ruled this week that the court has probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for ''overstepping the ruling,'' the report states.
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) posted to X after the ruling saying he thinks the administration's actions warrant Trump's impeachment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
01:54 ||
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[11147 views]
Top|| File under: Lawfare
#1
Pardon yourself President Trump, Then keep deporting the wretched hive of scum and villainy!
[DAILYCALLER] Death row inmates granted clemency by former President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. This Is A Man That Does Not Seem Demented... sued the Trump administration on Wednesday for ordering their incarceration under the most ''oppressive conditions'' available.
President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... issued an executive order on his first day in office that directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to ensure 37 death row inmates were ''imprisoned in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose,'' which the lawsuit alleges is unconstitutional.
''By categorically condemning Plaintiffs to indefinite incarceration in harsh conditions in response to their receipt of clemency from the previous President, it exceeds the statutory authority granted to the Attorney General and her deputy, and is arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion; it was made without proper notice and comment; and otherwise is not in accordance with law,'' the lawsuit alleges.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
01:42 ||
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#1
The other inmates are there. The accommodations are far better than their victims got.
[HOTAIR] 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... ? Tunnels? Tehran? Yes, the IDF hit Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... in all of those places, including in Iran's capital when Israel took out its top leader Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continued as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintained a separate PM in the West Bank. Zapped during the 2023-24 war, to eveyone's satisfaction... .
However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... the Wall Street Journal reports that the IDF and Israeli intelligence have struck hardest at the heart of Hamas -- its wallet:
Israel last month cut off supplies of humanitarian goods to the enclave, some of which Hamas had been seizing and selling to raise funds, according to Arab, Israeli and Western officials. Its renewed offensive has targeted and killed Hamas officials who played important roles in distributing cash to cadres and sent others into hiding, Arab intelligence officials said.
In recent weeks, the Israeli military has said it killed a money changer who was key to what it called terrorist financing for Hamas as well as a number of top political officials in rapid succession.
The result for Hamas has been a debilitating squeeze.
Salary payments to many Gaza babus government employees have ceased, while many senior Hamas fighters and political staff began receiving only about half of their pay midway through last month's Ramadan holy period, the intelligence officials said. Rank-and-file Hamas fighters' pay had been averaging around $200 to $300 a month, they said.
When the Israelis cut off aid transports after the end of the cease-fire, Western nations howled their objections. However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... Israel is under no obligation to feed a population that launched a war against it, at least not unless that population capitulates. More importantly, the cutoff of that aid also eliminated a large amount of the leverage Hamas has over that population and in controlling the forces in Gaza.
This isn't a police action; it's a war, one triggered by Hamas with the most monstrous atrocities seen in scope and particulars in decades, if not centuries. Israel warned after the October 7 massacres that the time had come to settle all accounts in the Middle East, especially with Hamas. Unless they surrender and leave Gaza, Israel intends to utterly destroy them rather than return to a frozen conflict that allows Hamas to rebuild again. This time, the Israelis are taking aim at their ability to survive, not just to get them to sign a meaningless cease-fire.
If this sounds familiar, it should. The Israelis used the same strategy against Hezbollah when Iran's other proxy insisted on joining the war. After Operation Grim Beeper took out most of Hezbollah's command structure, they eliminated His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> too, who had been the linchpin of Iran's proxy strategy for destroying Israel and controlling the region.
But the Israelis also went after Hezbollah's finances too, targeting their bank al-Qard al-Hasan (AQAH) both figuratively and literally. The IDF destroyed several AQAH locations around Beirut last fall. That stripped Hezbollah of funds at a moment when 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... had difficulty in transferring enough operational cash to their proxy in Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... . As a result of the comprehensive Israeli attack on Hezbollah, they could no longer function as a security force for Iranian toady Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... , who had to flee when his forces collapsed soon after Hezbollah got neutered.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
01:41 ||
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[11159 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[NYPOST] A Long Island man convicted of stabbing and robbing a funeral home director in 2023 exploded in a Suffolk County courtroom Wednesday — attempting to fire his attorney, interrupting prosecutors and calling the judge ''the devil'' before receiving a 25-year prison sentence.
Jason Funderburke, 39, who was convicted by a jury in March, stormed into the courtroom Wednesday and attempted to reject its authority to deliver a sentence — obnoxiously objecting every time the prosecutor spoke and causing the judge to tell him to ''shut up'' during the testy proceedings.
''You were convicted by a jury of your peers,'' a befuddled Judge Timothy Mazzei replied.
Funderburke, who hails from Hempstead, then began shouting over the judge, rattling off random cherry-picked sections of state and federal law, accusing the court of violating his First and 14th Amendment rights.
He also refused to address the judge with respect, instead calling him “Mr. Mazzei” because he is “not honorable.”
“Will you shut up?!” the judge eventually snapped at Funderburke, briefly removing him from the court before bringing him back for final sentencing.
His attorney asked the judge to take into consideration his client’s “clear and serious mental health issues” displayed throughout the trial
Ah hah!
— which only further enraged Funderburke, leading him to attempt to fire his legal counsel on the spot.
“You don’t represent me! I’ll represent myself,” he shouted.
In Aug. 2023, Funderburke and an accomplice stabbed an Amityville funeral home owner during a robbery.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
01:34 ||
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[11149 views]
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#1
For 39 years his methodology worked. Probably even got him a diploma. He has several years for a rethink. Stats are certainly not is his favor.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/18/2025 8:54
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#2
Jason Funderburke? He's probably just pissed off because that name carries zero street cred ...
#4
"Candidly, your Dishonor, this stuff is all jurisfiction, for I can only be tried under the law of Westphalia! You see, my seventh great-grandma was the seventh servant of the seventh lady-in-waiting to the sister of the Baron Thunder-Ten-Tronckh..." [an hour later, halfway down the courthouse steps, drops Strat he's been playing on a hundred foot cord and hauls ass]
[NYPOST] President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... offered his take on former first lady Jill Biden's role in the Biden administration during an exclusive interview on Fox Noticias.
Fox Noticias host Rachel Campos-Duffy asked Trump whether he believed Jill Biden was former President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. This Is A Man That Does Not Seem Demented... 's ''autopen.''
''No, I don't think so,'' Trump said, but argued ''she was certainly involved because he gave her the last meeting to preside over with the Cabinet.''
Trump was referring to the former first lady's controversial attendance at one of Biden's last Cabinet meetings in September 2024.
The amount of alleged influence the former first lady had over Joe Biden and his administration had been a frequent source of controversy well before the September Cabinet meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
01:33 ||
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#1
The fact, that Biden remained in office despite his known Serious Mental Issues, clearly shows our Elected Representatives FAILED US.
Or, it could be said the (R) & (D) 's agreed on 1 thing. That VP Harris taking the reins was far worse?
#5
Meanwhile, people are out on the streets screeching that Elon Musk was not elected.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/18/2025 10:55
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#6
My impression is that Jill is not competent enough to be night manager at a motel. Based on the results, maybe she was running the whole thing.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/18/2025 11:23
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#7
Was Blinken running things?
I'm hearing talks and rumors that deep state department was experimenting with a go-around of the Presidency in regards to usurping Executive Power and moving it over to the Secretary of State, to give the Secretary of State more Prime Minister like powers and authority, while decreasing the role and authority of the civil President.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!🍹 pic.twitter.com/r6VWc6Fjtn
[NYPOST] Alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia was seen ''sipping margaritas'' with Sen. Chris Van Hollen Thursday amid his high-profile deportation battle, according to photos shared by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.
Bukele shared three pics of the Democratic Maryland politician meeting with Abrego Garcia — who was wrongly deported to El Salvador's notorious megaprison last month — lounging in the country's ''tropical paradise'' with what appeared to be salt-rimmed drinking glasses containing an unknown liquid and a cherry.
''Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the 'death camps' & 'torture', now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador,'' Bukele said in an X post Thursday night.
''Now that he's been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody,'' Bukele, who said earlier this week that he has no intention of returning Abrego Garcia to the US, wrote in a separate post.
Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled to the Central American nation this week to push for the release of the illegal migrant and purported MS-13 member.
The excursion sparked outrage from the mother of murdered Maryland woman Rachel Morin, 37, who was ruthlessly killed by Victor Martinez-Hernandez, a different Salvadoran undocumented Democrat who was convicted Monday of the 2023 murder.
Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has thrown her support behind Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the accused MS-13 gang member and alleged domestic abuser who was deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration.
#5
He has a deportation order. The immigration judge put a 'temporary' stay because he 'feared' for his safety back in El Salvador from rival gangs. Looks like that 'fear' was invalid.
#6
Nice of the PR team to shave Kilmor's arms, and wise to not video Hollen trying to tie a knot in the cherry stem. Take your hat off, sir....or are we totally skull tat'ed?
— who was wrongly deported to El Salvador's notorious megaprison last month —
Says who.
Doing a full court press, two weeks of seeding plus tapping controlled opposition media.
Hollen looks like he has Canadian rapper Snow playing in the background because he thinks it makes him look hard.
'After being dressed like a stereotypical gringo dork, Kilmor anxious to be returned to general population clothing.'
[FoxNews] HUD headquarters building faces over $500M in 'deferred maintenance,' and only half the building is being used
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pointed out that only half of its D.C. headquarters is being used after the agency's building was added to a list of federal properties marked for sale by the Trump administration Thursday.
HUD's headquarters became the first major federal agency building to be added to the General Services Administration's list of "assets identified for accelerated disposition" amid GOP efforts to slim down the government's real estate portfolio and potentially relocate agency headquarters outside the nation's capital.
Simultaneously, Democrats have taken steps to block these efforts, including through the introduction of legislation in Congress.
Last month, the GSA retracted a list of 440 "non-core" assets, including the HUD headquarters and more than a dozen other federal buildings it had initially listed for sale or disposal, according to the Federal News Network. The GSA subsequently posted a new list, but HUD is the first major executive agency headquarters to be included.
President Donald Trump campaigned on relocating federal agencies outside the nation's capital in 2024 as part of his wider efforts to clean up waste, slim down the federal government and "dismantle the deep state."
Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order rescinding two prior executive actions put into effect under the Carter and Clinton administrations, which the president said in his directive "prevented agencies from relocating to lower-cost facilities." Trump's directive also points out that by moving federal agencies closer to the people they are serving, rather than being centrally located in the nation's capital, it will help the departments more successfully carry out their missions.
"HUD’s focus is on creating a workplace that reflects the values of efficiency, accountability and purpose," HUD Secretary Scott Turner said Thursday. "We’re committed to rightsizing government operations and ensuring our facilities support a culture of optimal performance and exceptional service as we collaborate with our partners at GSA to deliver results for the American people."
HUD indicated Thursday the timeline and final location for the headquarters relocation were still being considered. But the agency did note that the Washington, D.C., metro area remains one of the top options under consideration.
The HUD headquarters is located inside the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, which is in the Southwest part of D.C. According to HUD, the building is facing $500 million in "deferred maintenance and modernization needs," which the agency said costs taxpayers more than $56 million annually in rent and operations expenditures.
Media reports earlier this month indicated the Department of Agriculture has been putting together plans to relocate its federal headquarters outside D.C., according to several officials briefed on the plans.
#1
The HUD HQ building, aka, the Robert C Weaver building, is one of the ugliest buildings in the world. Even by the standards of the brutalist architecture movement, it is a model of neo Stalinist ugliness.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/18/2025 12:19
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Always thought somebody oughta animate that sucker. [monstrous Corbusian caterpillar rampages around Godzilla-style gobbling up neighborhoods and shitting out projects]
[BEARINGARMS] Active shooter events have been tracked by the FBI for over two decades. There are interesting results when those statistics are compared to other data. A new study states that civilian responses to these events are less adverse than police responses. The April 2025 study found that ''armed citizens do not interfere with police, and in active shooter situations, they reduce deaths and injuries significantly more effectively than the police.''
Dr. John R. Lott, Jr. from the Crime Prevention Research Center and Dr. Carlisle E. Moody, Professor of Economics, Emeritus from College of William and Mary, aggregated the data. Their paper, ''Do Armed Civilians Stop Active Shooters More Effectively Than Uniformed Police?'' was released on April 3.
For a list of cases, Moody and Lott pulled from the ''Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2023.'' The Federal Bureau of Investigation published the report. In order to compare those incidents with civilian responses, they pulled data from ''the Heritage Foundation, Defensive Gun Use Tracker, Gun Violence Archive, the American Rifleman, the Daily Signal, and Reddit that met the FBI's definition of an active shooting.''
The report notes that there's a complete list of ''cases where civilians have stopped active shooting attacks,'' which can be accessed at Crime Prevention Research Center's webpage.
Once all the data was compiled, some initial findings were observed.
''The first takeaway is, assuming our count is complete, that armed citizens have stopped more active shooter incidents than the police have, although the difference is not significantly different from zero,'' Lott and Moody noted. ''Also, armed citizens do not appear to interfere with the police or blunder so badly as to get their weapon taken away by the shooter or kill the wrong person.''
Moreover, one of the more significant findings was that ''according to police, armed citizens have stopped 57 active shooter events which otherwise were likely to have escalated into mass public shootings — where 'many' people risked being murdered.''
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
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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] 22.59 Representatives of Ukraine, Europe and the United States launched a new format of negotiations in Paris today on how to achieve an end to the war and sustainable peace. The next meeting should take place soon. This was stated by the head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak on the air of Unified News.
22:44 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "spoke on the phone for the first time" with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. This was reported by the Russian Foreign Ministry and the press service of the US State Department.
22.12 US President Donald Trump expects the Russian Federation to make a decision to end the war in Ukraine this week. He stated this during a conversation with journalists at the White House.
21.37 US President Donald Trump does not hold Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky responsible for the Russian invasion. However, in his opinion, the latter "did not do enough" to prevent the war. The head of the American state said this while talking to journalists at the White House.
20.49 In the Kherson region, as a result of massive Russian attacks on April 17, four people were killed and at least 17 were wounded. The Russian army used aircraft, artillery and drones. This was reported by the Kherson regional prosecutor's office.
20.46 On Thursday evening, April 17, the Russian army launched an attack on Nikolaev with an unknown drone. This was reported by the head of the Nikolaev regional military administration, Vitaly Kim.
20.28 Special Operations Forces (SOF) operators have discovered and destroyed a Russian Marine Corps observation post in Kursk region. One of the liquidated Russian aggressors had staged footage, which Russian propaganda has presented as "the destruction of a column of the Ukrainian Defense Forces." This was reported by the SOF on its Facebook page on Thursday, April 17.
19:43 President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine has received intelligence data on China's supply of gunpowder and artillery to Russia, as well as on the production of some weapons by representatives of the PRC directly on the territory of the Russian Federation. The head of state noted this during a briefing.
19:00 Moscow hopes for "a manifestation of the search for a peaceful Ukrainian settlement" at the negotiations between representatives of the US, Ukraine and European countries in Paris. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a commentary to Russian media. At the same time, he pretended not to understand why European capitals "have suddenly turned into war hawks" while Moscow and Washington "are talking about peace."
18:29 Germany has delivered another batch of military aid to Ukraine. This is evidenced by updated data on the website of the German government. The Ukrainian military received self-propelled guns, air defense missiles, drones of various types, thousands of shells, dozens of armored vehicles and other equipment.
17.16 The United States has again voted against the UN General Assembly resolution, which mentioned condemnation of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine. The text of the resolution "does not contribute to advancing the cause of peace," noted the US representative to the UN, Jonathan Schrier.
16.48 Since the beginning of the current day, 79 combat clashes have occurred on the front. The Russian occupation forces have concentrated their main efforts in the Pokrovsk area. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an operational report as of 16:00.
16.26 The aggressor country Russia is preparing to launch new attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting with energy workers.
15.38 In recent weeks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated about 16 square kilometers of territory in the Donetsk region. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky. According to him, this concerns the areas of the settlements of Udachnoye, Kotlino, and Shevchenko.
14:45 The Ukrainian delegation held its first multilateral meeting in Paris with representatives of Great Britain, Germany and France. This was reported by the President's Office. The implementation of a complete ceasefire in Ukraine and the involvement of a multinational military contingent to ensure security were discussed.
14.39 In Dnepr, as a result of Russian shelling at night, buildings of a higher medical education institution and dormitories were seriously damaged. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Health.
Thus, according to preliminary data, in one of the educational buildings, which has the status of an architectural monument, as a result of a direct hit, half of the roof was destroyed, and the floor slabs of the fourth floor collapsed. In another building, all the windows were knocked out, and the classrooms were damaged. They are unsuitable for teaching.
Four dormitories were also damaged. In one of them, after a direct hit from a drone, part of the building was destroyed, the roof was damaged, and the windows were knocked out. In other dormitories, almost 100% of the windows were knocked out.
13.13 Law enforcement officers have exposed three new schemes for evading mobilization in the Odessa region. Among those detained are the general director of a psychiatric medical center and his two deputies, who issued fictitious certificates of mental disorders for $20,000. This was reported by the SBU press service.
13:00 Since the beginning of 2025, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have destroyed 4,910 artillery systems of the Russian army. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky. According to him, thanks to the professional work of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, since January 2024, a year and less than four months later, the Russian army has lost almost 18 thousand artillery systems (17,960).
12:59 President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed condolences to the families of those killed during the attacks of Russian "shahids" on the city of Dnipro and called on partners to increase assistance to Ukraine and put pressure on the killers. He wrote about this in Telegram.
12:45 Russian aviation struck the Central District of Kherson at about 10:30 on June 17. This was reported by the head of the Main Military Aviation Service Roman Mrochko. According to him, a 15-year-old child was seriously injured - a mine-explosive injury and an open craniocerebral injury. Doctors are currently fighting for his life. Two men, born in 1997 and 1966, also sought medical attention. Both suffered mine-explosive injuries. Further examination is currently ongoing.
According to the head of the Kherson Special Military Aviation Service Alexander Prokudin, a man was killed as a result of Russian air strikes on the Central District of Kherson. The relevant services are establishing the identity of the deceased.
12:33 The International Nuclear Safety Agency (IAEA) group working at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has heard explosions at different distances almost daily over the past week, as well as periodic shots. This was stated by the Director General of the Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi, as reported on the IAEA website. Also, over the past week, air raid sirens have sounded almost every day at the South Ukrainian and Chernobyl NPPs.
10:34 Next year, high defense spending is expected. There are several options for where to find the money. This was stated by Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko during a CES discussion.
"Despite talk of possible peace talks, we do not see reliable signs that next year's budget will be free of significant military spending," he said.
9:36 In Kherson, on the morning of April 17, a Russian drone attacked an ambulance in the Dniprovsky district. A 65-year-old paramedic and a 61-year-old driver were injured. This was reported by the Kherson OVA.
8:55 There have been 125 combat contacts on the frontline in the past 24 hours. Most often, the Russians attacked the Limanskoye, Toretskoye, Pokrovskoe and Novopavlovskoye directions. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on April 17.
8:31 In the Sumy region, a fire broke out on the territory of an agricultural enterprise as a result of an attack by Russian attack drones. This was reported by the head of the Sumy Regional Military District Mykhailo Melnyk. Agricultural machinery and administrative buildings were damaged. There were no casualties.
8:14 The death toll as a result of the Russian attack on the city of Dnepr on the evening of April 16 has increased to three, 28 people were injured. This was reported by the State Emergency Service.
7:50 Over the past 24 hours, the Russian Army has lost 1,230 soldiers, 3 air defense systems and 170 vehicles on the frontline. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
5:05 Drones have again attacked the deployment point of the 112th Guards Missile Brigade, involved in the strike on Sumy. Explosions have thundered in the city of Shuya in the Ivanovo region of the Russian Federation, where the brigade is stationed. Social networks are publishing footage of landings and fires.
02:22 The number of victims in Dnepr has risen to 28 people. 15 houses have been damaged. Among them are two historical and architectural monuments.
0:30 Russian troops have attacked Dnepr with Shaheds. A girl and an older woman were killed. 16 people were injured, including three children.
[SUDANTRIBUNE] At least seven people were killed and others injured on Wednesday in fresh artillery shelling by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that hit a market in El Fasher, while the army and its allies repelled an RSF attack on the North Darfur capital.
The situation in the historic capital of the Darfur region is escalating militarily after the RSF tightened its siege on the city from all directions, mobilising thousands of fighters planning to invade.
Local sources told Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... Tribune that ''at least seven people were killed and about nine others injured in artillery shelling by the RSF on the livestock market south of El Fasher.''
The livestock market in the southern part of El Fasher, the main market for remaining civilians, has been repeatedly targeted by RSF artillery, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and the destruction of numerous shops.
Military sources also said the army and allied armed movements repelled an RSF attack in the city's eastern part. They reported fierce battles between the two sides along the same axis, involving all types of weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
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Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Scientists have discovered signs of possible biological activity beyond the Solar System. This was reported on April 17 by the press service of the University of Cambridge.
It is noted that chemical traces of two rare gases were found in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b - dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS). This was learned thanks to data collected using the James Webb telescope.
"On Earth, DMS and DMDS are produced only by life, primarily microorganisms such as marine phytoplankton. Although the source of these molecules in K2-18b's atmosphere may be an unknown chemical process, the results provide the strongest evidence yet that life can exist on a planet outside our solar system," the paper says.
The scientists also said that the findings are not conclusive and that new observations are needed to ensure that the DMS and DMDS findings were not a measurement error.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on March 6, the Metro publication stated that Joe McMonigle, who participated in a secret project of the US Department of Defense, saw evidence of life on Mars.
It was noted that between 1978 and 1995, the man was engaged in telepathic research that led him to a planet one million years before our era. There he saw a giant pyramid in which very tall and thin beings in strange clothes were hiding from a powerful storm. Then he told how he saw other areas of Mars where there were supposedly bones and ruins of buildings.
[VANGUARDNGR] The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has strongly condemned the attempted liquidation of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, describing it as a brazen and alarming attack on democracy.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group said the incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday at the Senator's family residence in Obeiba-Ihima, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.
According to counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama, the Chief Security Officer to the Senator, Mr. Yakubu Ovanja, reported the incident to relevant security authorities. He revealed that at about 1:00 a.m., at least three armed individuals wielding cutlasses and firearms attacked the residence, vandalizing property and shattering windows.
A swift response from security operatives of the Okehi Police Division prevented further escalation. Although no casualties were reported and no arrests have been made so far, preliminary investigations are underway.
Police sources have indicated that the motive behind the attack is still unknown.
Reacting to the development, HURIWA called for a thorough investigation and immediate prosecution of the perpetrators. The group also urged the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) to ensure the Senator's safety, stressing that any harm to her would be a serious threat to national stability.
''Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is one of the most vocal advocates for constitutional democracy and equal opportunities in Nigeria,'' the statement read. ''Her safety must be guaranteed at all costs. This attack is a threat not only to her life but also to democratic values in the country.''
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] At a hearing on April 17, the Supreme Court of Russia suspended the ban on the activities of the Taliban movement in the country (under UN sanctions for terrorist activities).
“By decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the previously established ban on the activities of the Taliban movement, which is included in the unified federal list of organizations recognized as terrorist, has been suspended,” the judge announced.
The court hearing was held behind closed doors.
On February 14, 2003, the Supreme Court of Russia recognized the Afghan Islamist religious and political paramilitary movement Taliban as a terrorist organization, banning its activities in the Russian Federation.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, in August 2021, a coup d''état took place in Afghanistan, and the Taliban came to power. In March 2022, Russia established diplomatic relations with Afghanistan. As stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Taliban control power in Afghanistan, containing the activities of terrorist groups.
In October 2024, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov announced that Moscow was finalizing the issue of removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations. As the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov explained, the abolition of the terrorist status of the Taliban is necessary for the development of contacts with the leadership of Afghanistan.
The Supreme Court announced at the end of March that it had accepted the Prosecutor General''s Office''s request to suspend the ban on Taliban activities in Russia.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] ZALA "Lancet" deprived the Ukrainian Armed Forces of more than 120 T-64 tanks.
The T-64 has become the most common tank in the Ukrainian army. According to open sources, since the beginning of the Second Military Operation, the ZALA Lancet reconnaissance and strike system has destroyed 121 T-64 tanks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The coordinates of enemy equipment are received by operators of the Lancet loitering munitions in real time from the ZALA Z-16 reconnaissance UAVs. Due to their high maneuverability, high-quality video signal, and the use of modern control and navigation algorithms, the Lancets are capable of attacking armored vehicles from an unexpected direction, striking at weakly protected areas, which often leads to the detonation of ammunition.
The T-64 tank, developed in the 1960s, has become one of the main fighting vehicles of the armored forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited hundreds of such tanks, which were modernized to the T-64BV, T-64BM "Bulat" and other versions.
These tanks are distinguished by combined armor, a 125-mm gun and relatively high mobility. During the modernization, the latest versions of combat vehicles also received modern thermal imagers, a satellite navigation system, a digital radio station and updated dynamic protection. According to Ukrainian media, at the beginning of the Second World War, the Ukrainian army had about 800 active T-64 tanks in service.
We present a selection of footage of objective control of the use of Lancets against T-64 tanks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It's good that the "Lancets" were tested on militants in Syria. Without them, it would have been more difficult for us on the Ukrainian front.
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Belgorod direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces engaged formations of two mechanised brigades, one air assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and three territorial defence brigades close to Miropolskoye, Prokhody, Ryasnoye, and Novodmitrovka (Sumy region).
The AFU losses were up to 65 troops, one tank, three armoured fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, and six field artillery guns. Two ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian troops delivered strikes at manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades and one assault brigade near Yampol (Donetsk People's Republic), Olgovka, and Borovaya (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses were up to 240 troops, one tank, three armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, three field artillery guns, and one Kvertus electronic warfare station. Three enemy ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Yug Group of Forces' units improved the tactical situation. Russian troops hit clusters of enemy manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades of the AFU, one territorial defence brigade, and one National Guard brigade near Katerinovka, Poltavka, Seversk, and Yablonovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 320 troops, five armoured fighting vehicles, seven motor vehicles, and six field artillery guns. Six ammunition depots were neutralised.
As a result of active actions, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces liberated Preobrazhenka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian troops launched attacks on formations of three mechanised brigades, one assault brigade, one unmanned aerial defence brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and two National Guard brigades close to Ulyanovka, Uspenovka, Krasnoarmeysk, Novoekonomicheskoye, and Mirolyubovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were more than 385 troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, and five field artillery guns.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. Russian troops delivered strikes at manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades and one air assault brigade near Karla Marksa, Zelyonoye Pole, Zeleny Kut, and Shevchenko (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 130 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, two field artillery guns, and two electronic warfare stations.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces engaged formations of two mechanised brigades of the AFU and two territorial defence brigades close to Novodanilovka, Kamenskoye (Zaporozhye region), Tomarino, and Nikolskoye (Kherson region).
The AFU losses were more than 90 troops, nine motor vehicles, one artillery gun, and one electronic warfare station. Three enemy ammunition depots were destroyed.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged the infrastructure of a military airfield, an unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing enterprise, an uncrewed surface vehicle depot as well as AFU temporary deployment areas and foreign mercenaries in 143 areas.
Air defence systems shot down five JDAM guided bombs and three HIMARS MLRS projectiles as well as 204 fixed-wing UAVs.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the AFU losses amounted to 661 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 52,293 unmanned aerial vehicles, 601 anti-aircraft missile systems, 22,876 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,536 MLRS combat vehicles, 23,741 field artillery guns and mortars, 34,203 units of special military vehicles.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise AFU formations on the territory of Kursk region.
During offensive actions, units of the Sever Group of Forces defeated formations of one mechanised brigade, one air assault brigade, and five territorial defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Gornal, Velikaya Rybitsa, Zapselye, Miropolye, Sadki, Yunakovka, and Yablonovka in Sumy region.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and artillery fire engaged AFU manpower and hardware close to Belovody, Vladimirovka, Novaya Sech, Osoyevka, Sadki, Yunakovka, and Yablonovka in Sumy region.
During the past 24 hours, the AFU losses were up to 165 troops, two tanks, one infantry fighting vehicle, five armoured fighting vehicles, 12 motor vehicles, and three artillery guns.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 74,780 troops, 410 tanks, 334 infantry fighting vehicles, 305 armoured personnel carriers, 2,277 armoured fighting vehicles, 2,734 motor vehicles, 618 artillery guns, 57 MLRS launchers, including 15 of HIMARS and seven of MLRS made by the USA, 28 anti-aircraft missile launchers, one self-propelled anti-aircraft system, ten transport-loading vehicles, 125 EW stations, 18 counter-battery warfare radars, 12 air defence radars, 57 units of engineering and other materiel, including 23 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five bridge launchers, one engineering reconnaissance vehicle as well as 15 armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
[SUDANTRIBUNE] The Steering Committee of the 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... Doctors Syndicate reported Thursday that more than 200 doctors had been killed and nine female doctors raped by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Gross violations by both parties to the conflict have been reported in many regions across the country, including killings, abductions, arrests, rape, liquidations, and executions, often linked to accusations of collaboration with the opposing side.
Adeeba Ibrahim al-Sayed, a member of the Preliminary Committee's Omdurman private branch, told Sudan Tribune that the committee had documented the killing of more than 230 doctors. Nine female doctors were raped and two others kidnapped when RSF forces entered Gezira State, she added.
Al-Sayed confirmed that both the Sudanese Army (SAF) and the RSF had arrested more than 30 doctors, while more than 20 others had been kidnapped, their whereabouts remaining unknown to the committee.
About 8,000 doctors have emigrated or been displaced, causing a severe shortage of medical staff, al-Sayed explained.
Around 85% of hospitals and health centres have also closed, leading to disease spread and overcrowding at the few remaining functioning facilities.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 20:54 Calculation of FPV drones of the Dnepr group of troopsdestroyedBMP-1 of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kherson region. 19:50 Around 19:00 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle of the airplane type over the territory of the Astrakhan region.
18:55 Guards paratroopers of the Ivanovo Airborne Forces unit discovered a column of armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of Chasov Yar.
According to intelligence, a column consisting of a tank and three armored vehicles attempted to deliver personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units for rotation.
The "winged infantry" UAV crews simultaneously launched several FPV drones and destroyed the enemy's armored column along with its personnel.
18:06 In the area of the village of Konstantinovka, operators of unmanned aerial vehicles of the "Southern" group of troops discovered positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Having received the coordinates, the 122mm M-21 Grad MLRS crew of the 6th Motorized Rifle Division covered the identified enemy positions.
17:34 Calculation of the Lancet loitering munition of the West force group destroyed self-propelled gun "Crab" of the enemy in the Khar'kov region.
17:01 A serviceman of the 242nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment of the "Southern" group of forces with the call sign "Koschei" destroyed enemy stronghold during the liberation of the village of Kalinovo in the DPR.
16:45 FPV drone operator of the Zapad group of forces destroyed acamouflaged T-64 tank in the Khar'kov region.
16:42 Around 16:00 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty intercepted Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle of the airplane type over the territory of the Rostov region.
16:19 Soldiers of the 68th Tank Regiment raise the Russian flag in liberated Valentinovka –MAP
15:45 Konstantinovskoye direction. According to information from the field, forest plantations north of Novokalinovo have been cleared –MAP
15:33 Orekhovskoye direction. The Russian Armed Forces entered the outskirts of Malaya Tokmachka, –MAP.
12:23 Calculation of the 122mm BM-21 MLRS "Grad" of the 90th Tank Division of the "Center" group hit on the accumulation of manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Krasnoarmeyskoye direction.
11:49 FPV drone calculations at Rubicon Center destroyed manpower and military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donetsk direction.
11:11 Valentinovka came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces. Fighting for Sukhaya Balka is underway, –MAP.
11:06 During the clearing of the outskirts of the settlement of Guevo in the Kursk region, fighters from the 30th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 44th Army Corps of the Guards "North" are advancing along routes littered with vehicles and military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
On frames, you can see the Ukrainian T-72 tank and the Nissan Pathfinder SUV, destroyed by the Northerners in the Sudzhan border area.
11:02 Armed Forces of Ukraine tried a strike at the infrastructure of the Zaporizhzhya NPP.
The drone was shot down 300 meters from the industrial site, in the area where the reactor hall simulator is located (by the way, the only one in the world).
Fortunately, there were no casualties or damage.
09:54 On the border with the Krasnoyarsk district of the Belgorod region, servicemen of the 128th brigade of the 44th Army Corps of the Guards "North" openedan attempt by an assault group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to advance in the direction of Popovka.
08:50 Russian units occupied new positions in the Kotryarovka and Zaporozhye area
Fighters of the "Center" group of forces continue to storm enemy positions, approaching the border of the Dnepropetrovsk region.
08:17 The 152mm 2A65 Msta-B crew of the howitzer artillery division of the 238th Artillery Brigade of the 8th Guards combined arms army carried out an operation to destruction of AFU stronghold in the area of the settlement. Dzerzhinsk.
Using the Krasnopol high-precision munition, the target was hit with maximum accuracy, demonstrating the professionalism and coherence of the crew, effectively neutralizing the threat from the enemy.
07:38 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 71 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were :
– 49 UAVs – over the territory of the Kursk region,
– Seven UAVs over the territory of the Oryol region,
– Seven UAVs – over the territory of the Ryazan region,
– Four UAVs – over the territory of the Bryansk region,
– Three UAVs – over the territory of the Vladimir region,
– One UAV – over the territory of the Tula region.
06:29 FPV drone crews of the special forces unit of the Center group of forces continue to destroy artillery guns and ammunition supply vehicles of the enemy in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
04:59 Calculation of the 220mm BM-27 Uragan MLRS of the Zapad group of forces destroyed temporary deployment point and military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Khar'kov region.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Artemy Sharapov
[REGNUM] Exactly half a century ago, on April 17, 1975, the residents of Phnom Penh – workers, intellectuals, clerks and hundreds of thousands of refugees who had gathered in the city – joyfully greeted the liberators who had entered the capital of Cambodia almost without a fight. Young partisans (among whom were many teenagers and even children) in black robes and under red flags – the Khmer Rouge – walked along the avenues and avenues laid out by the French. People hoped that the fighters who had emerged from the jungle would put an end to the long-standing civil war.
Almost 45 years ago, the same city was entered by men in khaki — the Vietnam People's Army. One of the most combat-ready forces in the Soviet bloc, which had recently defeated the Americans, drove out the "wrong" communists — the pro-Chinese Khmer Rouge — in less than two weeks. No one met the Vietnamese.
The word "post-apocalypse" was not yet in the lexicon, but that's what it was. The permanent population of Phnom Penh in April 1975 was over 2 million people. The population in December 1979 was zero.
"Luxurious villas with white walls and spacious terraces, covered with bright purple flowers up to the roof. I have never seen a city in Asia that was so harmoniously built... Only Southern California could compete with its charm... But the city was completely, absolutely empty. As if after a neutron bomb. As if after an epidemic," this is how Wieslaw Górnicki, a journalist from the Polish People's Republic who arrived "in the train," described the capital of the former Democratic Kampuchea.
Soviet international reporter Viktor Pritula, who visited the same place at the same time, remembered the city as less romantic: Phnom Penh “was still beautiful, but dirty, like a whore from a village brothel. In broad daylight, rats scurried around the backyards between the high-rise buildings…” The long civil war showed no sign of ending.
The overthrown, or rather retreated to jungle bases, regime called itself more than modestly: "Angka", which simply means "Organization". The pro-Soviet press from East Berlin to Hanoi called this strange dictatorship "the bloody Pol Pot - Ieng Sary clique ". Cambodians themselves still call the years of their rule "samai a-Pot" - the era of the despicable Pot.
The era lasted less than four years. During this time, the regime of "brother number one" Pol Pot turned the country he inherited into an experimental field for building agrarian socialism (with "killing fields"). From 1.7 to 3 million people died as a result of the genocide of the "exploiting classes" and ethnic cleansing, died during deportations and from backbreaking labor on rice plantations and simply from "unforeseen" famines and epidemics.
The brutal experiment in the rapid creation of a classless society (“ the socialist regime in its development moves directly, like a flying arrow, to communism!” – stated the resolution of the “Organization” in 1978) looked like a revived and illogical dystopia – with the abolition of not only money and religion, but also culture, medicine, technology and cities.
But both the emergence of the Khmer Rouge and their rise to power were a logical consequence of the games of the great powers, into which little Cambodia/Kampuchea was drawn. And when the regime decided to act independently, to restore the greatness of the country by relying on its own forces and at the same time to be the first in the world to come to communism, then the catastrophe turned into an apocalypse.
MAKE CAMBODIA GREAT AGAIN
The country of the Khmer people once dominated its part of the world. From the 9th to the 15th century, an empire with the Sanskrit name Kambujadesha existed in Indochina (its name refers to the Indian epic Mahabharata, which mentions the warlike people of Kambuja). The founder of the Khmer Empire, Jayavarman, whose name means "protected by victory", bore the title of chakravartin - the ruler around whom the universe revolves. At the height of its power, the Khmer Empire included, in addition to modern Cambodia, all of Laos, almost all of Thailand, and the south of modern Vietnam.
But from the 13th century onwards, the warlike and refined empire weakened in wars with the Thais, Vietnamese and the Cham people who had adopted Islam. A century later, only a memory remained of the Khmer state. But a “weighty” one: the huge temple of the god Vishnu – Angkor Wat and other palaces and temples in the abandoned imperial capital of Angkor. The Khmers themselves found themselves vassals of their former subjects – the Thais.
When Cambodians developed an intelligentsia in the 20th century, all of its members – liberals, conservatives, communists – were, among other things, Khmer nationalists who dreamed of making the country great again. Angkor Wat was on every Cambodian flag, even under the Khmer Rouge – and still is.
The French colonialists “brought in” the national intelligentsia for their administrative and technical needs. As a result of the game of redistribution of the great powers that lasted throughout the 19th century, the British received India, Burma and Malaya, and the French – Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Formally independent Siam-Thailand lost its possessions on the edges and found itself in the sphere of influence of Britain and France. Cambodia with its aristocracy and the royal dynasty of Norodom was considered a protectorate, but in fact it was a colony.
During the Second World War, French Indochina was occupied by Japan. Anti-French and simultaneously anti-Japanese resistance units, mostly of a left-wing nationalist persuasion, emerged throughout the colony. First of all, in the most populated and developed part of Indochina – Vietnam, and then in Laos and Cambodia.
When the French tried to restore colonial rule after 1945, the Indochina War broke out from northern Vietnam to western Cambodia. The 1946–54 conflict was one of the first proxy clashes of the Cold War. France was supported by the United States, Britain, and the Chinese Kuomintang. Behind Ho Chi Minh’s army (and the Khmer and Laotian patriots who were sponsored by Vietnam) stood the USSR, the countries of the socialist camp, and Mao Zedong ’s People’s Republic of China.
The Khmer Issarak movement for the revival of Cambodia was led by two former Buddhist monks and founders of the Cambodian Communist Party, Son Ngoc Minh and Tu Samuth. Many, however, perceived them as “not quite their own.” The independence movement was created under the supervision of the Vietnamese, both leaders came from Khmer Krom (historical Cambodian lands in the Mekong Delta, which were then and are still part of Vietnam), and Son Ngoc Minh was half Vietnamese.
Be that as it may, the Khmer Issarak successfully beat the French and by 1954 controlled up to half of the protectorate’s territory.
MR. SALOT, AN ADMIRER OF ROUSSEAU
The alternative to the "Hanoi protégés" were two men linked to both France and the Khmer royal dynasty. One would play an important role in the early years of independence, the other in the darkest years of independent Cambodia. The first, Crown Prince and later King Norodom Sihanouk, was educated at a military academy in Saumur, France, while in the metropolis the prince became acquainted with liberal and socialist ideas.
In 1941, Sihanouk was enthroned by decision of the French Governor-General of Indochina, then the king swore allegiance to the Japanese occupiers, after the war he did not contradict the French, but did not forget about the idea of reviving the state of Angkor.
The second person important for Cambodian history was born under the name Saloth Sar. From a family of wealthy peasants, but connected to the royal court. Saloth Sar's elder brother served at court, his sister and cousin were concubines of King Sisowath Monivong (and the cousin even became the mother of the royal bastard).
Saloth Sar received an excellent education - first in his homeland, at the Sisowath Lyceum, and then in Paris, at the School of Radio Electronics of the Paris-2 University. In France, Sar was imbued with socialist ideas - Stalinist and Maoist, and together with other Kampuchean comrades in the Cercle Marxiste - the "Marxist Circle" published the leaflet "Iskra", in honor of Lenin's newspaper. The more moderate experience of Josip Broz Tito, whom the Khmer met in a detachment in Yugoslavia, did not particularly inspire.
A colonial intellectual with a Parisian education, having returned to his homeland, chose a purely peaceful profession - a teacher. A quarter of a century later, the world will know the modest, delicate and ideologically strong comrade Saloth Sara under a new name - Pol Pot. According to one version, from the French pol itique pot entielle ("potential policy", which refers to the pan-European aphorism about the "art of the possible").
The author of one of the best books on the history of the Cambodian catastrophe, David Chandler, names another source of inspiration for Pol Pot, in addition to Lenin, Stalin and Mao. "A quiet teacher, educated in Paris, an admirer of Rousseau." This French educator of the 18th century taught: "natural", primitive humanity lived in peace, prosperity and freedom, while the state, private property, and even urban culture with civilization brought only evil to the world.
“Simplification” according to Rousseau, plus the communist experience of the 1920s-50s – the Red Terror, Stalin’s purges and the Maoist “Great Leap Forward”, plus the memory of the past greatness of the Khmer nation and the desire to punish all its enemies – and the ideology of Comrade Pol Pot is ready.
But in order to realize this potential, external conditions were needed.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY, YELLOW-FACED BROTHER."
In the year of Stalin's death, in 1953, Saloth Sar joined the People's Revolutionary Party of Cambodia (senior Vietnamese comrades believed that the Khmers were "not mature enough" for the Communist Party) and began to make a career - at first, quietly. He generally loved secrecy and obscurity. At the same time, as the curator from the senior comrades Phan Van Ba noted back then, Saloth, despite his average abilities, was consumed by ambition and a thirst for power.
At that time, another ambitious politician was on everyone's lips - Norodom Sihanouk. In order to untie his hands, he abdicated the throne in favor of his father and appointed himself prime minister. Sihanouk experimented with moderate leftist ideas, called himself a "Buddhist socialist" (whatever that means), but most importantly, he tried to play with multi-vectorism. Distancing himself from the conflicts of pro-Soviet North and pro-American South Vietnam, while maintaining consistently good relations with the USSR and the USA.
At the same time, the logic of the game of great powers forced the prince to drift towards Moscow and Beijing. The Americans did not forgive this - and already in 1959, with the help of right-wing generals, they tried to overthrow Sihanouk, but did not succeed.
And the following year the Vietnam War began - first as a war of the South Vietnamese Viet Cong guerrillas supported by Ho Chi Minh against the South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. The further the Americans got bogged down in Indochina affairs, the less they were satisfied with the local regimes playing at "neutrality". In 1963, the Americans removed Ngo Dinh Diem as insufficiently loyal. After the incident in the Gulf of Tonkin, the US directly intervened in the war between the two Vietnams and in 1965 sent troops.
"We even pushed them (loyal South Vietnamese) aside, saying, 'Get out of the way, little yellow brother. The good guys are here,' " recalled General Norman Schwarzkopf. One of the bloodiest conflicts of the second half of the 20th century had begun, in which, like the Indochina and Korean wars of the 1950s, the interests of the United States, the Soviet Union, and China clashed.
The war could not help but “affect” neighboring countries: Laos and Cambodia.
THE ROYAL WARPATH
Meanwhile, in Cambodia, Prince Sihanouk has finally turned his back on the "good guys" in Washington. Gone are the days when you could chat nicely with both John Kennedy and Mao Zedong.
Sihanouk concluded an agreement with the PRC (which was then supporting North Vietnam) on the presence of North Vietnamese troops and bases in the kingdom and on the transit of military materials through the port of Sihanoukville. The "Sihanouk Trail" stretched across Cambodia, similar to the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" that went through Laos. This flirtation with the old rival, the Vietnamese, did not please the Phnom Penh elite. The pro-Western generals and officials were "annoyed" by the fact that the ruler began to receive assistance from the USSR, Czechoslovakia and China. The elite was also unnerved by the fact that the US Air Force began to strike Cambodian territory - so far only pinpoint strikes, targeting Vietnamese bases.
At the same time, Khmer peasants were happy that the Viet Cong were buying rice at inflated prices. But the government was unhappy, because rice was the kingdom's main export commodity. Sihanouk sent "food detachments" of soldiers to the provinces to confiscate rice. In response, a peasant revolt broke out in 1967, starting in the remote province of Battambang, a traditional base for the rebels. The uprising was led by the communists - the Khmer Rouge.
Thus began the civil war.
To counter the Khmer Rouge, the "Khmer Rose" Sihanouk had to make a sharp turn - and turn to the Americans for support. At their "request", General Lon Nol, an anti-communist and friend of the United States, became prime minister.
By that time, the future "brother number one" Pol Pot had apparently already seized power, neutralizing the "founding fathers" delegated from Vietnam. Tu Samuth had died in a safe house in Phnom Penh back in 1962 (according to some accounts, he was killed on the orders of Saloth Sar). A few years later, another party leader, Son Ngoc Minh, went to Beijing for treatment and died just as mysteriously in the hospital. It is known that Saloth Sar's closest comrade, Ieng Sary, strongly advised Comrade Son to go to China for treatment.
While the future Pol Pot was intriguing at bases in the jungle, in Phnom Penh, their own intrigues were being woven against the Prime Minister, Prince Sihanouk.
In January 1970, the "Buddhist socialist" and Queen Monica went on a long vacation to a resort on the French Riviera. From there, Sihanouk flew to Moscow. It was from us, from the lips of the head of the USSR Council of Ministers Alexei Kosygin, that the ruler of Cambodia learned the following: riots had broken out in Phnom Penh, nationalists had smashed the North Vietnamese embassy, where they had allegedly discovered plans to seize Cambodia with the Viet Cong. In order to "restore order," the army staged a coup and proclaimed the Khmer Republic. With the full approval of the United States, General Lon Nol was appointed president.
Parisian publications, which were cautiously disapproving of what the Americans were doing in the former protectorate, noted that the Richard Nixon administration, having placed its bets on the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam and the “Vietnamization” of the conflict, clearly benefits from the establishment of a pro-American regime in the Cambodian rear.
The ex-king rushed to Beijing, where he was assured that Chairman Mao recognized Sihanouk as the legitimate ruler of Cambodia and would try to convince Comrade Kim Il Sung of the same. Moreover, His Highness Norodom Sihanouk formally became the head of the rebel coalition, where the main role was played by the most radical "leftists" in history - the Khmer Rouge.
The civil war entered a new phase.
And the United States and South Vietnam openly intervened in it on the side of their new ally, Lon Nol. The US Air Force ironed out the positions of the Viet Cong and Cambodian guerrillas, but often "worked on the ground." According to historian Ben Kiernan, by 1973, B-52s had dropped up to 500,000 tons of bombs on the small country (other sources mention 2.75 million tons of bombs). According to the most conservative estimates, up to 100,000 people fell victim to air attacks.
GENERAL'S SAND CIRCLE
Hundreds of thousands of homeless refugees headed for Phnom Penh. When the Khmer Rouge took power, many of them would become victims of the razing of the cities. But then, every American attack added points to the Khmer Rouge. Not only peasants (including peasant children and teenagers who grew up under American bombs) but also soldiers and officers of Lon Nol's army went over to their side en masse.
The jungle people promised to stop the ruin of the peasants, fight corruption and put an end to the "eternal dependence" on any foreigners if they won. The ghost of a revived Angkor empire arose again.
It is not surprising that by 1973 the guerrillas controlled two-thirds of the country's territory, and by early 1975 the rebels had surrounded Phnom Penh, beginning a blockade of the city.
The Soviet press happily stated: “Kampuchean patriots” had cut off roads number 3, 4 and 5, connecting Phnom Penh with the agricultural regions, the city was under siege, Saigon and Washington would not come to the rescue.
In March, the Nixon administration and a number of Asian countries asked Lon Nol to negotiate with the Khmer Rouge and resign. However, the head of government refused and began to "act eccentric." The president consulted with Buddhist mystics and soothsayers and, on their advice, he built a "protective line" of sand around Phnom Penh.
However, the blockade of the city led to the loyalist forces running out of ammunition. Realizing the futility of the struggle, Lon Nol resigned and fled on board an American military plane. The president did not forget to take a million dollars, which he later used to buy a villa in Honolulu.
Another pro-American client has fallen: like the Batista regime in 1959, like South Vietnam in April of the same 1975, or like the Kabul government under pressure from the Taliban in August 2021. But, as already mentioned, the fall of Lon Nol was only a prologue to the most terrible act of the Cambodian drama.
YEAR ZERO
The victors, with Maoist Beijing behind them, began in the classic way - with the Red Terror: with the execution of Lon Nol's family members and his closest supporters who had not managed to escape. It is curious that the former king Sihanouk and his wife Monica were allowed to return to their homeland, he was even declared the head of the State Council of the new country, Democratic Kampuchea. But the royal couple was immediately arrested.
And then the "Organization", headed by the "rubber plantation worker", brother number one Paul Pot, began to implement the plan.
1975 was declared the year zero — history was to start from scratch. The return to the natural state, according to the precepts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, was to be based not on Vietnam, the USSR, or even China, but only on one’s own strength. A kind of analogue of the North Korean Juche, with an important difference: Comrade Kim was creating an industrial power modeled on Stalin’s USSR, and not an equalizing peasant utopia. For which, moreover, there was clearly not enough rice.
On the eve of the capture of Phnom Penh, the US Agency for International Development (now abolished USAID) noted that Cambodia was facing a famine that could not be prevented without international assistance. The country needed at least 250 thousand tons of the main product. But the Khmer Rouge immediately set a course for isolation - and made a simple decision: rice would be grown by the former urban population.
And under the pretext of the danger of another American attack, Pol Pot's men began an unprecedented "evacuation" of millions of residents of the capital. Those who try to justify the actions of the Khmer Rouge compare them with the decision taken by the North Vietnamese who captured Saigon in 1975. Some of the residents of the former enemy capital were resettled in "new economic regions." But the fighters of the Vietnamese People's Army did not separate families or drive "exploiters" hundreds of kilometers to rural communes - essentially to slaughter.
Very soon, Moscow realized that the "patriots" (about whom practically nothing was known) were incapable of reaching an agreement. The staff of the Soviet embassy in Phnom Penh recalled: as the Khmer Rouge approached, diplomats hung outside - in addition to the red flag - a portrait of General Secretary Brezhnev. But the image of the "revisionist" seemed to only anger the victors.
"Having torn apart the main entrance with grenade launchers, the Khmer Rouge burst into the embassy building, " wrote journalist and Indochina specialist Mikhail Ilyinsky. " They pushed all the Soviet people in the embassy out into the street and ordered (journalist Yuri) Kosinsky, who was in the embassy, to dig a grave. For several hours, in forty-degree heat, he dug into the rock-hard earth, taking his time, hoping for a miracle. And it happened: one of the Khmer Rouge commanders ordered the prisoners to be taken to the French embassy, where the foreigners remaining in Phnom Penh were being taken." And from there the "Soviet revisionists" were taken along with the bourgeois foreigners to the border with Thailand.
"Democratic Kampuchea" has been completely encapsulated.
All Kampucheans were divided into castes, “categories” of people according to their loyalty to the regime, Ilyinsky noted: “Personal property was also liquidated along with private property… The doors of educational institutions were boarded up tightly, and one official information leaflet was issued to the entire country.” The Khmer Rouge did not forget to settle old scores – with the ethnic minority of the Cham, descendants of the ancient enemies of the Angkor Empire. But their desire for great power failed them – Democratic Kampuchea “decided” to return Khmer Krom, lands that now belong to Vietnam. The attack on the victors, the United States, turned out to be insane and suicidal.
Just as the truth about the Holocaust came to light in 1945, so in 1979 the whole picture of the accelerated construction of a bright future became known. The world saw the "killing fields", facts of mass murders in communes and labor armies became known. The new government established by the Vietnamese from repentant Pol Pot supporters - the "People's Republic of Kampuchea" - held a tribunal over the overthrown clique. Among other things, torture invented by the Khmer Rouge was mentioned:
"With hoes, picks, sticks, iron rods they beat their victims on the head; with knives and sharp sugar palm leaves they cut their victims' throats, ripped open their bellies, extracted the liver, which they ate, and the gall bladders, which they used to make "medicines". They threw people into ponds where they kept crocodiles, they hung people from trees by their arms or legs so that they would dangle in the air for a long time..."
But the organizers of the genocide did not live to see a full-fledged analogue of Nuremberg. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, who had not been completely defeated, retreated to the Thai border, to their old bases in the jungle, where they fought for another decade against the "Vietnamese occupiers and collaborators."
In this struggle they found unexpected allies, and "brother number one" himself lived to old age and died a natural death. But that's a completely different story.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Easter in Moscow this year will be one of the warmest. This was reported on April 17 by meteorologist and candidate of technical sciences Evgeny Tishkovets.
He noted that July warmth is expected in Moscow over the weekend. Night temperatures will not fall below +10…+13 °C, and during the day the air will warm up to +22…+25°C. According to the weather forecaster, repeats or a fall in the heat records of 1973 and 1995 are likely.
“Christ’s Resurrection will be one of the warmest in meteorological history!” Tishkovets wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to meteorological statistics, on April 20 in Moscow, 20-degree heat occurs no more than once every 13-15 years, the meteorologist said.
“According to forecasts, the summer warmth will last until the beginning of next week, after which there will be a cooling down to the April norm,” Tishkovets said.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, the scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center Roman Vilfand said on April 16 that 2025 could be one of the hottest years in history. According to the expert, the current year will be among the top five, and possibly even the top three warmest.
The mayor of Toronto, wearing a hijab, met with the city’s Muslim community leaders to discuss what they consider the biggest national problem in Canada: Islamophobia. pic.twitter.com/SOBsli39T3
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Hamas movement is ready to begin negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. This was stated on April 17 by the leader of the movement in Gaza, Khalil al-Haya, during an address that was broadcast on all Arab TV channels.
“The movement emphasizes its readiness to immediately begin negotiations that would allow the release of all hostages and our prisoners whose release was agreed upon, in exchange for a complete end to the war and a complete withdrawal of the occupation forces (Israel - ed.),” al-Haya specified.
Al Arabiya reported that Israel was demanding that Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip disarm. In response, the Hamas leader said that carrying weapons was a "natural right" for radicals "under occupation."
Earlier, Regnum News Agency reported that in January, Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, with the assistance of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, agreed on a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The agreement envisaged a three-stage process: first, Israeli troops were to leave Gaza in exchange for the release of 33 hostages; the second stage involved the release of the remaining Israeli prisoners and the establishment of a permanent ceasefire; and the third stage involved the exchange of bodies of the dead.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office on February 23 said Hamas was holding humiliating ceremonies for Israeli hostages before releasing them. Tel Aviv announced it was suspending the exchange. As a result, the Israeli army resumed military operations against the Palestinian movement in the Gaza Strip.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on April 17, a long-term settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is only possible on the basis of the creation of two sovereign states.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Russian Armed Forces soldiers in the Sudzhansky District of the Kursk Region, after liberating the territory from militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), discovered the decapitated body of a girl. This was reported on April 17 by a Russian attack aircraft with the call sign Dobry.
“The girl, she is under 10 years old, had her head cut off,” aif.ru quoted him as saying. Sounds like something the Chechens would do.
Dobry also reported that his fellow soldiers in the area found the bodies of five murdered children.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, there is a lot of evidence of crimes committed by Ukrainian Armed Forces units against civilians during the invasion of the border areas of the Kursk region. On March 23, the Russian Investigative Committee reported receiving evidence of shooting people in the region by Ukrainian soldiers. The militants also set fire to residential buildings and looted.
On April 9, the International Public Tribunal on the Crimes of Ukrainian Formations and Their Accomplices presented a report that confirms that the Ukrainian Armed Forces systematically killed and robbed civilians in the Kursk region, and also destroyed houses, churches, and hospitals. The report contains testimonies from residents of the region.
On April 8, a Russian court found three Ukrainian soldiers guilty of committing terrorist attacks in the Sudzhansky District of the Kursk Region. They were sentenced to imprisonment for terms ranging from 16 to 17 years.
#1
Chechens or Arabs, most definitely Muslims. I heard rumors of UKR reach out to jiahadis, at some point in the last year or so I was hearing that HTS received UAVs from Kiev in exchange for mercenaries.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Five people were killed and four were injured in a shooting at a university in the US state of Florida. This was reported on April 17 by the local television channel WFTV.
"Five were killed, four were wounded," the statement said.
According to WCTV, the number of victims has risen to six, one of whom is in critical condition.
Earlier, the University of Florida reported a shooting and urged students to take shelter.
[FoxNews] The shooting began at around 11:50 a.m. During a press conference later that afternoon, authorities identified the suspected shooter as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, a student at the school.
Ikner was taken to an area hospital after being "neutralized" by authorities. Police also said his mother is a sheriff's deputy with the Leon County Sheriff's Office, and said Ikner used his mother's weapon in the killing.
The suspect's mother, Jessica Ikner, has been an officer for over 18 years and authorities said she has done a "tremendous job" in her position.
"Her service to this community has been exceptional," Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said at the press conference. "Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene. And we are continuing that investigation into how that weapon was used."
The two people who were killed were not FSU students, according to authorities.The area is still considered an active crime scene, and authorities believe that the suspect acted alone.
"There is no further threat to our community at this point," Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The school shooter who killed two people and injured at least six others at FSU held 'white supremacist' beliefs, according to former classmates.
Extraordinary footage has now emerged of Phoenix Ikner, a registered Republican, stalking campus grounds as terrified students ran for their lives on Thursday.
US strikes on the Ras Isa fuel port in western Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... killed at least 38 people on Thursday, Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... -run media said, one of the deadliest days since the United States began its attacks on the Iran-backed holy warriors.
Al Masirah TV said the strikes, which the US military said aimed to cut off a source of fuel for the Houthi rebel group, also maimed 102 people.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the corpse count given by the Houthis.
In a statement, US Central Command said that "US forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi bully boyz and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorize the entire region for over 10 years."
"This strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen, who rightly want to throw off the yoke of Houthi subjugation and live peacefully," it added. It did not acknowledge any casualties and declined to comment when asked by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named regarding civilians reportedly being killed.
The Ras Isa port, consisting of three oil tanks and refining equipment, sits in Yemen’s Hodeida governorate along the Red Sea. NASA satellites that track forest fires showed an intense blaze early Friday morning at the site just off Kamaran Island, targeted by intense US Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s over the last few days.
The United States began large-scale strikes last month against the Houthis, saying it would not stop unless they ceased their attacks on Red Sea shipping.
Thursday’s strikes were some of the deadliest since the United States began bombing the Houthis in its biggest military operation in the Middle East since US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... took office in January.
In March, two days of US attacks killed more than 50 people, Houthi officials said.
An AP review has found the new US operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than that under former president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We get to suffer the consequences... , as Washington moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel and dropping bombs on cities.
The new campaign of airstrikes started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting "Israeli" ships again, over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip. The rebels have loosely defined what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning many vessels could be targeted. They have also launched numerous missiles and drones at Israel.
The Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.
The US campaign shows no signs of stopping, as the Trump administration has also linked its airstrikes on the Houthis to an effort to pressure 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... over its rapidly advancing nuclear program."
Thursday’s strikes were some of the deadliest since the United States began bombing the Houthis in its biggest military operation in the Middle East since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
In March, two days of US attacks killed more than 50 people, Houthi officials said.
An AP review has found the new US operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than that under former president Joe Biden, as Washington moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel and dropping bombs on cities.
The new campaign of airstrikes started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting "Israeli" ships again, over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels have loosely defined what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning many vessels could be targeted. They have also launched numerous missiles and drones at Israel.
The Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.
The US campaign shows no signs of stopping, as the Trump administration has also linked its airstrikes on the Houthis to an effort to pressure Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2025
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The Pentagon discovered Chinese companies are aiding the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen target American ships - a revelation that comes amid the fallout of President Donald Trump's trade war.
#3
Good Job Boys! Ramp it Up! I think the Houthis are too stupid to 'Cry Uncle'. They'd rather their entire country be destroyed than live almost next to a Jew. Make It So!!
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Russia is interested in establishing relations with the new authorities of Syria and maintains contacts with all players in the region. This was stated on April 17 by the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov.
He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Syria in detail during a meeting with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. They exchanged opinions on the situation in that republic.
“We are interested in establishing relations with the current Syrian authorities and are in dialogue with all regional players,” Peskov said in a conversation with journalists.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, Putin on April 17 during a meeting with Hamad Al Thani emphasized that Russia strives for Syria to remain a sovereign and independent state, and to preserve its territorial integrity. He also discussed with the Qatari emir issues of providing assistance to the Syrian people, including humanitarian aid.
In March, Putin also discussed the situation in Syria with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Russian leader expressed his readiness to work together to achieve lasting peace and stability in the country while preserving its territorial integrity.
In December 2024, opposition armed groups launched an offensive on Damascus in Syria. The Syrian army withdrew from the capital, and the rebels declared that power had come under their control. The president of the republic, Bashar al-Assad, resigned and left for Russia, where he was granted political asylum. Ahmed al-Sharaa assumed temporary leadership of the country.
In March, clashes broke out in Syria between Assad supporters and the new government's forces. The fighting took place in the provinces of Latakia and Tartus.
[FoxNews] James River Phillips was charged with possession of an unregistered gun and possession of a destructive device
A Mason, Ohio,
…the next community over from mine…
man was arrested for allegedly possessing a destructive device after an investigation into an improvised explosive device (IED) found at a soccer complex led to the discovery of bomb-making materials.
James River Phillips, 20, was arrested Thursday by the FBI Cincinnati Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and charged with possession of an unregistered gun and possession of a destructive device.
The arrest comes after the task force conducted a federal court-ordered search in Mason that morning.
"The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested James River Phillips after he allegedly possessed a dangerous destructive device," FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola said. "The FBI and our partners worked together to ensure his actions were stopped before there was any risk to public safety."
According to an affidavit filed against Phillips, a Lebanon, Ohio, police officer discovered an IED at a soccer complex at about 12:30 a.m. Sept. 22, 2024.
Just before the discovery, the officer saw two men in their early 20s leaving the parking lot of the complex in a silver SUV, which was originally parked in the lot. The driver was described by police as having long curly hair.
The officer made a traffic stop and told the two men to leave the parking lot since the complex was closed, the affidavit noted.
Once the two men left, the officer continued to drive in the parking lot and located an IED where the SUV had been parked, court documents allege.
"The IED had wires running from a pile of white powder to a control switch," the affidavit states. "The control switch had a red light on when the LPD Officer discovered the IED. After encountering the device, the LPD Officer attempted to locate the two males but could not. The officer contacted Butler County Bomb Squad (BCBS) to seize the IED."
BCBS discovered that the residue on the device contained nickel hydrazine nitrate, while the white powder contained erythritol tetranitrate.
As they tested the IED detonator, it exploded, breaking the handheld chemical identification device.
With the FBI’s help, investigators used cellular data to track Phillips’ phone to the parking lot between 12:15 a.m. and 12:21 a.m. The same phone allegedly sent two texts shortly after the SUV encountered police, one at 12:36 a.m. and the other at 12:40 a.m.
On Dec. 2, 2024, Phillips reportedly got a driver’s license photo, which the affidavit said shows him with the same curly hair the officer saw when he encountered the driver.
Investigators executed a search warrant on the Apple iCloud account associated with the phone, which resulted in a video from April 5, 2024, showing two unidentified men in a parking lot under streetlights, near portable restrooms and a soccer net.
One of the men could be heard counting down to one, before an explosive device detonated. In another video appearing to be from the same incident, an unidentified man says, "James, we gotta go," and "James, come on."
The video then shows a hole in the ground, which investigators say was the result of the previous explosion. The two men are then seen picking up the debris and leftover components. GPS data from the metadata of the video shows the video was shot in the parking lot of the same soccer complex in Lebanon, where the police officer encountered the IED months later, the affidavit notes.
Additional photos and videos of explosions were reportedly found on the iCloud account from July 21, 2024, including the destruction of a car.
In one of the videos, investigators wrote, Phillips is seen holding a detonation device as another man counts down from five to one.
"After Phillips presses the detonation device, a large explosion is heard in the distance, and an unidentified male can be heard saying, ‘It blew the car above the tree line,’" the affidavit said. "Additional photos and videos taken on July 21, 2024, show an explosion followed by photos of the destruction of a car that appeared to be destroyed from the explosion."
The investigation later revealed to detectives that Phillips bought "precursor chemicals and materials for homemade explosives," which were shipped to his home in Mason and another residence of his in Oxford.
His iCloud account also allegedly had recipes and notes on how to construct explosive devices, the affidavit claims.
Photos also allegedly show Phillips constructing explosive devices in a shed in the woods.
Phillips is expected to appear in court Friday for a bond hearing and will remain in custody until then.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The Armed Forces of Ukraine have begun an active transition to a corps command system. Three new units have been created in a month. In most armies, corps are task organized. The Russians have a corps system their selves, and their armies are a type of corps. It works for them, and we will get to see how the new corps are assigned.
Three army corps have been officially created in the Ukrainian army. The first began functioning in mid-March on the basis of the Third Assault Brigade. Two more were created this month in the National Guard from the Charter Brigade and the 12th Azov Brigade. They are headed by Colonel Igor Obolensky (Kornet) and Colonel Denis Prokopenko (Redis).
Now these army corps will have their own headquarters, reconnaissance, artillery and logistics units. This, as explained by the commander of the National Guard Oleksandr Pivnenko, will increase their independence in carrying out combat missions without the need for constant involvement of the high command at such stages.
CORPS STRUCTURE OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE
In general, an army corps is a permanent unit consisting of several brigades. A corps may include from two to five brigades, and the number of personnel varies from 10 to 50 thousand or more fighters, depending on the country, type of troops and tasks.
Army corps emerged with the emergence of mass armies, when the spatial scope of military operations increased and the management of military formations with numerous combat personnel and diverse weapons became more complex.
Their creation is also due to the need to have formations capable of solving combat missions in an independent operational direction.
It is currently common knowledge that the Armed Forces of Ukraine include: the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Army Corps, the 7th Rapid Response Corps of the Airborne Assault Troops and the 30th Marine Corps of the Navy. However, the number of formed corps is growing, because currently the Armed Forces of Ukraine have more than one hundred brigades of various purposes.
Each corps consists of 4-5 mechanized (airborne assault, infantry) brigades, a reconnaissance regiment or battalion, and other separate combat and logistical units. The corps is commanded by a major general, chief and deputy chief of staff, and brigadier generals.
As for the newly created, Azov has now become the First Corps of the National Guard. It includes:
1st Presidential Operational Brigade Bureviy;
12th Special Purpose Brigade Azov;
14th Operational Brigade Chervona Kalina;
15th Operational Brigade Kara-Dag;
the newly created 20th Operational Brigade Lyubart.
It should be noted that the Third Assault Brigade became the Third Corps, and the Charter, accordingly, the Second. There are no other details regarding their composition.
AN UNPLEASANT LESSON
The Ukrainian army began actively switching to a corps-based command structure in February of this year.
"We are taking into account the challenges of the time and are working to strengthen the army even in the current difficult conditions. The reform of the organizational structure of the Armed Forces continues. We have begun implementing measures to transition to a corps structure," explained the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Sirsky.
It should be noted that the reform of the organizational structure of the Ukrainian army by merging the Ukrainian Armed Forces brigades into corps already took place in 2023 with the formation of the 9th and 10th army corps. However, after the Zaporizhzhya offensive operation, the brigades subordinated to the newly created corps continued to fight separately in various sections of the front as part of operational-tactical groups.
Probably, the new wave of creation of army corps is aimed at completing the formation of the organizational core with the gradual transfer of combat brigades under its control.
Why is it just about every time one of these, "Holier than thou", minority Uber-liberal crusaders is caught violating the law with malicious intent. They run to the cameras, using the usual racial rhetoric from 50+ years ago as cover? Then try to incite others into civil and physical violence?
Has she forgotten she was so discriminated against, that she has a Doctorate LAW Degree, and rose to Attorney general of New York?
#5
She knows a political hit job when she sees one.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/18/2025 11:26
Comments ||
Top||
#6
I juggle with the idea of using AI to imitate David Attenborough's voice and having AI Attenborough narrate these type Press Conferences and other type events.
[NYPOST] The eerie discovery of seven decaying corpses across three New England states warrants ''review and investigation'' after police shut down growing fears the deaths are linked to a serial killer, an expert said.
Matthew Mangino, a Pennsylvania-based defense attorney, said police in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island should be working together after the human remains uncovered in nearby coastal towns between March and April fueled online theories of a ruthless lone-wolf on the loose.
''Whether it's coincidental or not, I think it merits review and investigation, at least,'' Mangino, former Lawrence County District Attorney, told Fox News Digital.
''Collaboration between the different jurisdictions to determine whether or not there is some threat out there to individuals — that may be going on as we speak. We don't know that, but I think it does merit that kind of scrutiny.''
The decaying bodies were discovered in New Haven, Groton, and Killingly, Connecticut, Plymouth and Framingham, Massachusetts, and Foster, Rhode Island — with authorities identifying the remains of three women.
"Some days Al Shabab group defeats us, some days we defeat them — that doesn’t mean we’ve failed,” says President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, after Al Shabab recaptured Aden Yabal town in Middle Shabelle region, about 245km north of Mogadishu. pic.twitter.com/zkiBgFuR8Z
— Shabelle Media Network (@ShabelleMedia) April 16, 2025
It’s been busy at Adan Yabaal:
Al-Shabaab Captures Key Somali Town in Bold Offensive
[ShabelleMedia] Al-Shabaab ... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa... bully boyz seized the strategically vital town of Adan Yabaal in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region on Wednesday, launching a pre-dawn assault that overwhelmed government forces and marked the group’s most significant territorial gain since a major Somali offensive began in mid-2022.
The attack commenced at dawn, with holy warriors striking from multiple directions, triggering fierce festivities with Somali troops and local clan militias, security sources and eyewitnesses said. Intense gunfire persisted for hours, though disrupted communications have obscured precise casualty counts.
Situated 245 km north of Mogadishu, Adan Yabaal has been a cornerstone of Somali military operations since its recapture from al-Shabaab in December 2022. The town’s loss underscores the turbans’ enduring capacity to challenge government control.
Al-Shabaab’s media arm claimed dominance over the town and its environs, a claim yet to be independently confirmed. Two security officials verified that government forces and allied militias withdrew under relentless turban pressure.
After Al-Shabaab take-over, U.S. military strikes Somalia town
[Garowe] US Africa Command has responded to Wednesday's Al-Shabaab control of the strategic Adan Yabaal town by waging an airstrike, in yet another significant showcase of solidarity with the Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers who had lost the battle.
The takeover of the village was possible due to heavy rains, experts said, noting that it was almost impossible for the military and allies to conduct aerial surveillance before the attack. The militants took advantage and ambushed the troops.
But on Thursday, the US Africa Command is said to have initiated an airstrike killing at least 12 militants instantly in the town within the precarious Middle Shabelle region, which is facing a major threat of Al-Shabaab dominance.
The Somali government said Thursday the airstrike hit a site used by the militants for gathering and as a hideout. Senior Al-Shabaab members were killed, but their names are not yet public, with the US Africa Command still doing due diligence.
However, no civilian casualties were reported, the government of Somalia said. The takeover of Adan Yabaal was preceded by another catastrophic blow to the local military after losing Aboorey village within Middle Shabelle.
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.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
[Townhall] Despite leftist U.S. District Judge James Boasberg finding probable cause to hold the Trump administration in contempt of court on Wednesday for violating his previous order, Harvard Law School professor emeritus 
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States...
...46th president of the U.S. 
...46th president of the U.S. 
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
...46th president of the U.S. We get to suffer the consequences...
[NYPOST] The eerie discovery of seven decaying corpses across three New England states warrants ''review and investigation'' after police shut down growing fears the deaths are linked to a 
