Being illegal, and never should have had a badge. Will all LEO actions: conducting searches, investigations and even arrested real US Citizens, all be seen as all illegal.
How many dangerous criminals that were caught and convicted, will be filing appeals?
[WMTV] Jon-Luke Evans, a Jamaican national who was employed as a reserve officer with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department. Evans was taken into custody in Biddeford on July 25 by officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston. Immigration authorities said they detained Evans after agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) informed them that Evans attempted to purchase a gun.
[ShabelleMedia] The United States has announced a reward of up to $10 million and the possibility of resettlement for anyone who provides key information on the financial operations of ISIS-Somalia, a group Washington considers a major threat in East Africa.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice described ISIS’s Somalia branch as one of the largest and most active affiliates of the global ISIS network on the African continent, playing a significant role in funding the group’s wider operations.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that ISIS-Somalia generates income through a variety of illicit channels, including tax extortion, ransom kidnappings, money laundering, arms trafficking, and criminal levies on local populations.
The group also profits from piracy, illegal fishing, and uses mobile money platforms and cryptocurrencies to move funds.
"The United States urges Somalis and others with credible financial intelligence on ISIS-Somalia to come forward," the statement said. "Anyone providing such information may receive a substantial financial reward and resettlement opportunities."
ISIS-Somalia was founded in 2015 by Abdulqadir Mumin, a former al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... holy man, in the Cal Miskaad Mountains of northeastern Somalia.
Since then, the group has attracted imported muscle and expanded its operations, posing an increasing threat to regional stability.
Since December 2024, Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... forces have intensified their offensive against ISIS in the Cal Miskaad area, recapturing several key strongholds.
The military campaign has received support from U.S. forces and the United Arab Emirates, according to regional officials.
The U.S. reward program is part of a broader counterterrorism initiative aimed at disrupting terrorist financing and dismantling transnational turban networks across the Horn of Africa.
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#1
No mention of the hawaldars, the street money changers, who practice their trade throughout Somalia, and who handle funds from participants as far distant as Minneapolis/Saint Paul.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER] Because self-reliance means pulling in Russia? Okay then.
Sahel Nations Unite! Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger sign historic security pact with Russia, marking a new era of African sovereignty and self-reliance. From Bamako to Niamey, the message is clear: Africa chooses strength, unity, and independence. No more external interference! pic.twitter.com/AiVeSdkwSo
[Rudaw] Britannia and Iraq signed a new migration deal in London to accelerate the return of Iraqis with no legal right to remain in the UK, as part of efforts to deter small boat crossings and tighten border security, the Home Office said on Wednesday.
The "agreement aims to further deter small boat arrivals, while supporting the UK Government’s wider commitment to restore order to the asylum system and recognising the Government of Iraq’s significant work to provide reintegration support to those returned," read a statement from the Home Office.
It follows a security agreement signed between Baghdad and London in late November to enhance cooperation over Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s border security to curb people smuggling and narcotics trade.
"In a demonstration that the UK-Iraq partnership has entered into a new era, discussions on the visit moved beyond security to include cooperation on regional security, Baghdad-Erbil relations, defence cooperation and a growing trade relationship," the statement added.
The deal was signed in London by the UK’s Security Minister Dan Jarvis and Hazem al-Yousifi, the Iraqi foreign ministry’s undersecretary for legal affairs and multilateral relations.
"This visit reinforces the strength of the UK-Iraq partnership and demonstrates our government’s commitment to serious diplomacy that delivers real results," Jarvis said. "We are building stronger relationships that benefit both our countries whilst tackling shared challenges like organized crime and irregular migration."
The number of Iraqi nationals reaching the UK by small boat fell to 1,900 in the year ending March 2025, down from 2,600 the previous year, according to the statement, which it attributed to stronger international cooperation and efforts to curb irregular migration at its source through diplomacy.
The statement added that the "government is also expanding its ’Deport First, Appeal Later’ scheme, nearly trebling from eight countries to 23, with foreign nationals now expected to be deported to their home countries before they can appeal against that decision, increasing the UK’s ability to remove foreign criminals at the earliest opportunity, and easing pressure on the detention and prison estate."
Every year, tens of thousands of people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region seek to escape endless crises of lack of employment, political instability, and corruption by joining thousands of others from scores of countries taking perilous routes to Europe. The UK is a popular destination for many people, but crossing the English Channel is dangerous and sometimes deadly.
Kurdish criminal groups control the increasingly lucrative cross-Channel migration routes, according to the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which said in its 2023 assessment that the groups are mainly based in northern Europe.
London and Baghdad are also set to significantly expand their trade relationship following the signing of a "historic" trade package worth £12.3 billion (approximately $16.6 billion) in January, which is expected to substantially boost their current trade volume of £1.1 billion (around $1.5 billion), a senior trade official at the British Embassy in Baghdad told Rudaw earlier this week.
The UK also announced the launch of what it described as the world’s first sanctions regime in July, specifically aimed at smuggling gangs and their controllers.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] "Qatargate", or news about Qatari agents of influence in foreign governments, is constantly on the front pages of world publications.
According to the world press, Doha spent more than $10 million last year on public lobbying operations in Israel alone. About the same amount was spent on “representative expenses” for Israeli officials and EU functionaries, as well as businessmen who came to the country on business. How many transactions remained “behind the scenes” is anyone’s guess.
However, Doha's activity does not end there.
A scandal of its own is brewing in the UK, where Qatari sheikhs have managed to build a business empire and wedge themselves into British domestic politics.
True, not without the help of foreign friends.
QATARI EMPIRE
Qatar's economic expansion into the UK began back in 2002, with the Middle Eastern monarchy's first major investment in the country's logistics infrastructure.
However, over time, it acquired a truly royal scope: LNG terminals and sea hubs, large shopping malls, hotels and restaurants, as well as several thousand plots of land came under the control of the House of Al-Thani (full or partial).
According to auditors, the Qatari royal family and its courtiers control properties worth a total of $135 billion in local currency. Their annual income, according to the most conservative estimates, exceeds $100 billion. At the same time, every fourth property in the “inventory” was purchased by Doha in the last few years, and every twentieth – less than a year ago.
The Qatari ruling house has clearly outdone the Windsors.
Even if we are talking about London, where the ratio of objects is about 1 to 3, not in favor of the British crown. The Qataris even created their own quarter in the capital's Mayfair, nicknamed by the people "Little Doha". And the gap continues to widen.
The House of Al-Thani is buying up mansions, villas and castles (the total area of which has already exceeded 1.5 million square meters) all over Great Britain and, according to some reports, even tried to bargain with the Windsors for several “symbols” of British greatness, including Buckingham and Kensington Palaces, as well as the Westminster residence of the British monarchs, Clarence House.
The latter, however, failed due to the peculiarities of British legislation: the royal family does not own these objects, but only disposes of them. The topic was wisely closed.
Qatar's growing appetites are increasingly angering ordinary Britons, but not the elites. Neither the Conservatives nor the Labour Party have made a fuss, limiting themselves to a few long-winded statements about the value of the partnership with Doha and the importance of injections into the national economy.
The issue was quickly hushed up, but this only fueled interest in Qatar's participation in the country's affairs.
AMERICAN TRACE
Despite the fact that Qatar is an attractive investor and has the necessary resources to build networks of influence, the matter still could not be done without the help of foreign lobbyists.
The current US president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, played a significant role in building the "Qatari empire" in Foggy Albion. His agents began to assist investors from Doha in selecting and purchasing real estate, as well as in forming the "appropriate image" around Qatari sponsorship projects in the UK.
The peak of American activity came in the second half of 2024, when it became clear that the Republicans had a good chance of returning to the White House, and it quickly acquired a clear political subtext.
Kushner's shift in focus from Saudi Arabia (with which he had been developing contacts for almost the entire first presidential term of Trump) to Qatar can be interpreted as Donald Trump's attempt to use someone else's hands to restrain London's ambitions not only in the Middle East, but also in other regions; to ensure "careful control" over its closest allies. And at the same time, to "tie" Doha to himself.
Moreover, Qatar’s influence on the political course and views of yesterday’s metropolis is positioned by Washington as a kind of sign of “new independence” and Qatar’s transformation into a full-fledged superpower.
At the same time, in order not to upset the balance of interests with other Arabian monarchies, Kushner conducted most of his business with this country through trusted persons and friendly businessmen (including Saudis). He has not officially visited Doha even once since leaving the White House, but his lobbyists have at least three dozen meetings with Qatari sheikhs (including those close to the monarch).
Trump later consolidated some of Kushner's labors during a "golden tour" of the Gulf states in 2025, "returning" some of the money spent to the Qataris in the form of generous investment contracts with the United States.
FRIENDS CLUB
Of course, it is impossible to call the American contribution decisive in building Qatar’s political network of influence in Britain.
By the time Trump and his entourage became involved in the campaign to promote Qatari interests, the sheikhs had long had “solid ground” under their feet and maintained ties with British politicians and diplomats, as well as with the business community.
In the public sphere, Qatar does not seek to distance itself from the “colonial legacy,” but, on the contrary, extols and multiplies it. Calling the period of the British protectorate one of the important stages of national history and seeking to “thank the mentors” in the person of London.
For this reason, both parliamentary camps were equally friendly towards the Middle Eastern investor, and both the Conservatives ( Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak) and the Labour Party ( Keir Starmer, Jeremy Corbyn ) admitted to sympathising with the Qatari ruling house.
There was no shortage of influential patrons among those who promote Doha's interests.
On the other hand, US-sent lobbyists accelerated the transfer of several controversial properties to Qatari ownership, which strengthened the position of Qatari businesses in the UK.
Doha did not forget to thank the Americans “for their troubles.”
In particular, Qatari partners helped Kushner profitably acquire a stake in the British bank OakNorth, presenting Trump's son-in-law as a future protector of bankers' interests when entering the US market. The participation of the fund he heads in supporting Qatari start-ups participating (under the guise of British firms) in the exchange of technologies with Israel is being discussed - according to the same scheme that Saudi Arabia previously worked under.
DANGEROUS PASSION
Qatar is trying to turn the British interest to its advantage and, in addition to economic benefits, also gain political points.
Every decision made by London where the “hand of Doha” was visible worked towards the long-term strengthening of the position of the Arabian monarchy.
For example, its agents of influence helped London engineer the economic “deal of the century” with Iraq in January 2025 in such a way that the interests of the House of Al-Thani in that country would not be harmed – unlike those of Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Later, the Qataris stopped operations against the Yemeni Houthis at least twice, in February and April 2025 (through the entourage of Defense Minister John Healey ) - for which they received dividends from Iran.
And not long before that, they effectively “conquered” the British “green energy” market, subsequently transferring some of the projects to American contractors.
It is noticeable that Doha is gradually getting into the swing of things and acting more and more assertively. Sometimes without much regard for the reputational losses that London suffers from its ambiguous schemes.
And this is fraught with negative consequences for bilateral relations - especially given that the local population is increasingly asking why Qatari companies enjoy greater benefits in the UK than national ones. And why they manage the projects they receive under their control at their own discretion.
And the first people to be asked these questions publicly will likely be Starmer's Labour members.
Largely because his party came to power under the slogan of returning jobs to ordinary Britons.
Like absolutely everything else Sir Keith’s party campaigned on, that was a blatant lie, just like everything the Tories campaigned on post-Maggie Thatcher. Why d’you suppose that is, dear Reader, and will Nigel Farage finally win his place in the sun the next go-round?
And given that the intensification of Qatari expansion coincided precisely with the period of the Labour Party's rule, it will no longer be possible to write off this miscalculation as "the excesses of the Conservatives."
[Breitbart] Intelligence reports revealed an international criminal network linking Iran and its proxy Hezbollah with the Venezuelan regime’s Cartel of the Suns and Colombia’s FARC and ELN Marxist terrorist groups, Colombian outlets reported this week.
According to the Colombian magazine Semana, Middle Eastern intelligence agencies provided the information to the Colombian Armed Forces in a report. Semana and the Bogotá-based Blu Radio both claimed to be in possession of a copy of the report, which reportedly details that Iran, through Hezbollah, provided “financial, logistical, and doctrinal support, especially in the context of transnational cocaine trafficking.”
Iran’s support, the report detailed, allowed the criminal alliance linking Hezbollah, the Venezuelan regime and the Cartel of the Suns, the Marxist National Liberation Army (ELN), and FARC’s Second Marquetalia group to establish “drug trafficking corridors, safe havens, illicit military operations, and extractive activities” along the Colombian-Venezuelan border.
Blu Radio detailed that the collapse of Venezuela’s governance structures allowed criminal networks such as ELN to infiltrate state structures and consolidate its presence in the Venezuelan states of Apure, Táchira, and Zulia, all of which neighbor Colombia.
The report then explained that the Cartel of the Suns, run by dictator Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and the nation’s military, has “evolved” into a more complex structure that interacts with Colombian armed groups. The Maduro regime’s repressive DGCIM Military Counterintelligence Directorate reportedly “acts as a protector of this network, guaranteeing impunity and eliminating dissent.” High-ranking generals from the DGCIM, the Venezuelan National Army, and the National Guard, the radio station said, are presumably involved in the criminal network.
Semana, citing international intelligence sources, stated that the participation of high-ranking Colombian military officials in the international drug trafficking network has not been ruled out. According to the report, cocaine export corridor routes have been established from Colombia’s Catatumbo region to the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, Zulia, with Hezbollah-linked networks coordinating maritime routes from Venezuelan ports to Africa and the Middle East.
“These compilations are being carried out with the various intelligence agencies of several countries, because the information is very sensitive and must be handled with great care, but above all, it must have the necessary support,” an unspecified source told Semana.
“The financing of these criminal activities not only spans the continent, but also reaches as far as the Middle East,” Semana explained. “Part of the profits from drug trafficking are transferred to Hezbollah structures in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran to finance military operations in the Middle East, including the supply of weapons, training, and logistics.”
The Colombian magazine also revealed that according to the report, the Maduro regime has “sponsored” the ongoing gruesome conflict between ELN and FARC’s “33rd Front” faction at the Catatumbo region over control of the area’s coca leaf crops, the main ingredient used in the manufacture of cocaine.
Colombia’s Noticias RCN detailed on Tuesday that based on the report’s information, the criminal network’s center of operations is in Dubai and has “diplomatic protection to launder money from Colombian drug trafficking,” directly benefiting from the criminal ELN and FARC’s income. Noticias RCN further detailed that the Cartel of the Suns provides protection and logistics for the drugs, weapons, illegal gold, and fuel operations towards the Caribbean, Africa and Europe — and is directly involved in protecting Hezbollah forces in Venezuelan territory.
According to Noticias RCN, one of the reports read:
These individuals operate through front companies in Qatar, formally registered as infrastructure contractors in the energy, drilling, and industrial transportation sectors, but which in practice function as instruments for laundering money from Colombian and Venezuelan drug trafficking.
“Colombian armed groups such as the ELN, the [FARC] dissident faction led by ‘Iván Mordisco’ and the Second Marquetalia are deeply entrenched in this transnational criminal system,” Noticias RCN continued. “These groups control the coca and gold production corridors, receive payments in cryptocurrencies, weapons or logistics, and facilitate passage through unofficial routes.”
According to the Colombian outlets, the intelligence report argues that the international community has not taken the “necessary measures” to address these issues and recommends implementing international sanctions against identified officials. The report also recommends strengthening intelligence capacities at the Colombian-Venezuelan border; broadening the country’s cooperation with Brazil, the United States, Europe, and Israel; international cooperation against Hezbollah’s financial networks; and developing “interinstitutional strategies” for territorial control in Colombia’s Catatumbo and Arauca regions.
#1
During the Stroessner regime in Paraguay literally thousands of visas, passports, and paper were sold to Hizbollah through Paraguayan diplomatic presence in Lebanon. It accounted for the introduction of Hizbollah in the Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay tri-border region, the spread of Muslims into the heart of Brazil, and the spread of Hizbollah as far north as Colombia and Venezuela.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The deeply rooted custom in Chechnya of leaving minor children with the father in the event of a divorce contradicts the norms of Sharia,
Huh? Where is that written in Koran and Hadith, pray tell? Because elsewhere in the world the husband gets the kids, too.
Islamic scholars commented on the decision of the republic's muftiate on visiting hours for divorced women. At the same time, Russian courts more often leave children with the mother.
Sure, but the Russian courts follow the traditions of Christendom and Western philosophy.
As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Chechnya reported on the settlement of the dispute between the divorced parents, agreeing on a visiting schedule for the mother. According to Sharia, the child must stay with the mother, and adats cannot be higher than the norms of Sharia, social network users pointed out. Mufti of Chechnya Salakh Mezhiyev said in January 2023 that relatives should not prohibit children from seeing their mother after their parents' divorce. Given the inaction of the authorities and society, Mezhiyev's appeal is unlikely to influence men in the republics of the North Caucasus, noted human rights activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".
Divorced women in the North Caucasus have a hard time getting custody of their children if their ex-husband or his relatives want to keep the children for themselves. Relatives can prevent the mother from communicating with the children and put pressure on the children themselves, human rights activists said earlier.
Doctor of Law, professor at the Higher School of Economics, Islamic scholar Leonid Syukiyainen, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Asian Part of Russia (SAMAR) Mufti Nafigulla Ashirov, Chairman of the Committee "Civic Assistance"* Svetlana Gannushkina* and lawyer Timofey Shirokov commented to the "Caucasian Knot" on the decision of the SAM of Chechnya to settle the dispute between divorced parents, as a result of which a visitation schedule was drawn up for the mother.
According to Sharia law, children remain in the care of their mother until a certain age after their parents divorce, Leonid Syukiyainen told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
"She takes care of their upbringing. This is a general rule after divorce. In different Muslim countries and according to different legal schools (madhhabs) there are differences in the age up to which children should remain with their mother. For boys this age is younger, and girls remain with their mother until they reach adulthood, which is determined individually, with the beginning of the girl's cycles," he said.
Aisha was given in marriage at age six, then the Prophet Mohammed waited to treat her as a wife until she was nine. By that logic, we learn from his example that the mother loses all rights to her child at age six for girls, and necessarily younger for boys.
According to the Islamic scholar, according to Sharia rules, if the mother of these children remarries, she loses the right to care for and look after her children.
"This is practically the case everywhere. With some minor nuances that depend on the specific features of the legislation. If the mother neglects her responsibilities to care for the children, then they are transferred to another relative, but again first on the maternal side - the maternal grandmother and only then to the father," explained Syukiyainen.
He noted that certain Sharia norms are included in special family legislation.
“And almost everywhere it is stipulated that in the case of silence of the law, if some issue is not regulated by the law, then one should turn to the legal conclusions of the fiqh of a certain madhhab,” Syukiyainen pointed out.
In his opinion, in the North Caucasus the custom of leaving young children only with the father contradicts the norms of Sharia.
"This is a traditional rule that has existed for a very long time, a long time ago. Many courts are influenced by these customs and make such decisions. This is contrary to Sharia. I know many cases where women found themselves in a very difficult situation, could not communicate with their children. And they were assured that this was done according to Sharia. This is a misconception. This is how they imagine Sharia. They are mistaken. They do not even know their own Shafi'i school.
No doubt this is true. Even many Moslem clerics do not know, having memorized the texts without understanding. The problem of ignorant clerics has been complained about throughout the Ummah for centuries, and in Christendom as well. Not among the Jews, who have cherished erudition for millennia.
After all, even if the mother for some reason can no longer look after the children, in the event of her illness, for example, then they are still not passed on to the father, but to her mother, grandmother," explained Syukiyainen.
Nafigulla Ashirov also pointed out the contradictions between customs and Sharia norms.
"According to the madhhab of Abu Hanifa, custody of children is given priority to the mother. But this custody is not permanent, but until the children reach a certain age, such as: if it is a boy, then the mother has custody of him until he reaches the age of seven, and then custody passes to the father. If it is a girl, then the mother has custody of her until she reaches the age of nine, and then - the father.
Ah hah!
But there are other opinions about this, which say that she can guard the girl until she reaches puberty or until her marriage. But here too there are reservations, such as, for example, if the mother marries a man who is a stranger to the children, she loses the right of custody over them, and custody of the children passes to their grandmothers, first of all on the maternal side or their own sisters or aunts. Secondly - on the paternal side," the mufti said.
Russian legislation in general often takes the side of mothers, but the situation in the North Caucasus, in Chechnya in particular, is not so positive, Svetlana Gannushkina* is sure.
"Because there is this conviction in certain circles, so to speak, mainly in the Caucasus, that a child, as I have heard many times, belongs to the father's family. This, of course, is surprising to me, in general the very concept of belonging, a child does not belong to anyone, we belong to our children while they are small, and what does it mean for a child to belong. But the conviction that it is the father's blood, that it is belonging to the family, is very deeply rooted," Gannushkina* said.
She pointed out that, according to Russian law, time between a child’s parents cannot be divided in half.
"I know that this is determined in court if the parents themselves cannot agree, but still, the second parent, of course, has the right to meet with the child. In this case, the time is not necessarily divided in half, the child goes to school somewhere, the parents can live in completely different localities, how can it be divided in half? As a rule, the courts take the position that the mother becomes the main guardian, but this is quite understandable, because up to a certain age, the child needs the mother more than the father," Gannushkina* explained.
Lawyer Timofey Shirokov noted that the law cannot in any way divide the time children spend together between divorced parents.
"Formally, there can't be any prescribed norm here. In general, Russian legislation is more often on the side of mothers, leaving them with children. And naturally, children communicate more with their mother. But the father can, through the court, appoint some time for communication with the children, if the parents themselves were unable to agree. But there is no specific norm here. Also, if the children remain with the father, the mother is assigned some time for communication," Shirokov said.
[IsraelTimes] Organizers of exhibition cite ‘security and organizational’ reasons for ban, though decision said linked to policy shift on Israel
Israeli defense companies will not be permitted to participate in the Netherlands’ largest military exhibition, Hebrew media reported on Wednesday.
The NEDS event, held annually in Rotterdam and focused largely on the naval sector, has in recent years hosted Israel’s biggest defense contractors, including Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems and Rafael. But the event’s organizers wrote in a recent letter that this year’s event, scheduled for November 20, will bar Israeli firms, a Globes report said, citing Israeli sources.
Israeli sources confirmed to Globes that they will not attend. Organizers cited "security and organizational" reasons for the ban and did not respond to Globes’ requests for comment.
According to the report, the decision appears to be linked to the Gazoo war and is part of a broader Dutch policy shift relating to Israel.
The Netherlands has been pushing within the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... to impose economic and trade sanctions on Israel. In May, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp backed a legal review of the EU Association Agreement with Israel — the framework governing bilateral ties — which later found "indications" that Israel had violated the human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. requirements of the agreement. Since then, the Netherlands has sought to suspend Israel’s participation in the EU’s Horizon research funding program and reduce trade links.
The Netherlands already halted direct arms exports to Israel several months after the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... -led October 7, 2023, massacre that launched the war in Gaza. It continues, however, to supply Israel indirectly with F-35 fighter jet parts via third countries, according to Globes.
The Dutch ban follows other recent European restrictions on Israeli defense firms. In June, several Israeli companies were barred from displaying at the Gay Paree Air Show, despite La Belle France’s President Emmanuel Macron saying in January that Israeli firms would be allowed to attend.
The Defense Ministry condemned that last-minute decision by the event organizers, acting on behalf of the French government.
Last October, after Macron’s government said it would prevent Israeli companies from exhibiting at the Euronaval arms show, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant called his actions "a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world."
The effort to put restrictions on the exhibitors was ultimately blocked by a court.
Macron’s administration had also tried to restrict Israeli companies at a land defense and security exhibition five months earlier, but the decision was likewise overturned by a court.
#2
The West Euros will just buy on-line from the safety and comfort of their pyjamas rather than over drinks at trade shows.
I get the impression the Israelis make some good kit. (corrections welcome) For example, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has a lot of recognizable brand names.
[IsraelTimes] Woman wearing scarf was refused entry to 80th anniversary event at former camp, petitioned court
A German court said Wednesday that a Nazi concentration camp memorial has the right to refuse entry to those wearing the Paleostinian keffiyeh scarf.
The higher administrative court in the eastern state of Thuringia rejected a request from a woman to be allowed entry to the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial while wearing a keffiyeh.
According to local media reports, the woman was turned away when she attempted to attend a commemorative event marking the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation in April while wearing the scarf.
She then petitioned the courts to allow her to return to the memorial for another commemorative event this week while wearing a keffiyeh.
The court found that the memorial was within its rights to deny her entry, pointing to the woman’s declared aim of "sending a political message against what she saw as the [memorial’s] one-sided support for the policies of the Israeli government."
"It is unquestionable that this would endanger the sense of security of many Jews, especially at this site," the court said.
The court said the woman’s right to freedom of expression was outweighed in this case by the memorial’s "interest in upholding the purpose of the institution."
Germany, still trying to atone for the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, has been one of Israel’s staunchest allies.
However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... in recent months, it has sharpened its criticism of Israel’s actions 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... , with Chancellor Friedrich Merz announcing this month that no more licenses would be granted for arms exports to Israel that could be used in its war in Gaza, which was sparked by the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... -led October 7, 2023, massacre.
The Buchenwald memorial faced criticism last month when an internal document was leaked, which described the keffiyeh as "closely associated with efforts to destroy the state of Israel."
The director of the memorial, Jens-Christian Wagner, said subsequently that the document contained "mistakes" and would have to be reworked.
On the question of the keffiyeh, he told the NDR broadcaster last month that it was not per se "a forbidden symbol" at the memorial.
"However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... when it is used together with other symbols... to relativize Nazi crimes, then we would ask people to remove those symbols," he said.
Around 340,000 prisoners, including Jews, Roma, homosexuals, and Soviet prisoners of war, passed through Buchenwald and its annex Mittelbau-Dora, both located near the German city of Weimar.
Around 56,000 people bit the dust at Buchenwald — some executed, others starved or worked to death — and a further 20,000 died in Mittelbau-Dora, where inmates worked on the Nazis’ V1 and V2 rockets.
[IsraelTimes] France’s temporary suspension of visas for El Al security staff “has been solved,” Israeli Ambassador to France Joshua Zarka tells The Times of Israel in a phone interview.
“That issue has been solved, the visas for El Al have been solved,” he says, stressing that the matter was unrelated to rising tensions between the two countries over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. “No, it was something different.”
The visas “are expected to be renewed,” following a dialogue between the Israeli embassy in France and the French Foreign Ministry, adds the ambassador’s spokesperson.
[JNS] A federal judge stated earlier this month that the Star of David “symbolizes the Jewish race” and that attacking such a symbol, even on an Israeli flag, is “racial discrimination.”
Trevor McFadden, a district court judge for the District of Columbia, ruled in favor of pro-Israel activist Kimmara Sumrall, who is Jewish, after she filed a civil lawsuit against Janine Ali for allegedly assaulting her during a pro-Israel demonstration in Washington in November 2024.
Sumrall stated that while she was wearing an Israeli flag tied around her neck as a cape at the 2024 rally, Ali, an anti-Israel activist present at a counter-protest organized by Code Pink, approached Sumrall from behind and yanked on the flag, briefly choking her, according to the lawsuit.
A police officer witnessed the incident and arrested Ali at the scene.
In his ruling, US District Court Judge Trevor McFadden found that Ali "purposefully discriminated against" Sumrall based on her race.
"Purposefully yanking on an Israeli flag tied around a Jewish person’s neck to choke them is direct evidence of racial discrimination," the federal judge stated. "The Star of David—emblazoned upon the Israeli flag—symbolizes the Jewish race."
McFadden also dismissed the defendant’s argument that the Israeli flag represents the State of Israel, so her alleged action is "merely anti-Israel, not antisemitic." Deport, deport, deport
Deportation is for non-citizens here on sufferance. Citizens get fines and/or prison, depending on the severity.
“Battery is not a legitimate form of protest,” McFadden stated in his ruling. Further, “Ali did not have reason to think Sumrall was herself affiliated with the Israeli government. Rather, it is much more likely that she was intentionally attacking a Jewish person wearing a Jewish flag as a symbol of her racial heritage.”
#1
Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism!
Let us hope this ruling sends a clear message to all the white supremacists out there that they won't get away with it.
Don't be fooled by the laser pointer on Muslim immigrants, their numbers are few and they are poorly organized.
#2
This made national headlines but it is a preliminary action in a case that is proceeding to trial. The TRO requires the Palestinian commie from coming closer than three yards to the Israeli activist at future rallies until the trial. It basically awards a kindergarten sticker to the plaintiff.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/21/2025 6:53 Comments ||
Top||
#3
As Western Christian identity is found in the cross of numerous European flags.
[IsraelTimes] Shahed Ghoreishi drafted nixed statement on ‘forced displacement’ of Gazans, but managed to overrule Huckabee aide who wanted to hail House speaker’s visit to ‘Judea and Samaria’
The US State Department fired its press officer for Israeli-Paleostinian affairs after he reportedly internally raised multiple objections regarding how to project the Trump administration’s policy on 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.
Shahed Ghoreishi was fired on Monday, just days after he drafted a statement for the department stating that the US does not support "forced displacement of Paleostinians in Gaza," according to The Washington Post.
He mistook who exactly is setting policy and who is communicating it without alteration.
The Post did not specify what the statement was supposed to be in reference to, but it came against the backdrop of Israel’s plan to order the evacuation of roughly 1 million Paleostinians ahead of its planned take over of Gaza City and amid reports that it is in talks with several countries including South 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... about relocating refugees from the Strip.
Ghoreishi told the Post that the language he used in the drafted statement was consistent with remarks made in recent months by US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... and special envoy Steve Witkoff, who sought to clarify that Washington is not seeking to forcibly expel Gazooks after Trump unveiled a plan in February to take over the Strip and permanently relocate all of its residents.
But State Department leadership vetoed the line recommended by Ghoreishi, according to a memo last week obtained by the Post.
It was not the only time Ghoreishi — who also served in the State Department during the Biden administration — clashed with others in the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau.
When an Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... killed Al Jazeera news hound Anas al-Sharif along with five other journalists in a Gaza City tent earlier this month, Ghoreishi recommended that the State Department issue a statement that included a line "mourn[ing] the loss of journalists and express[ing] condolences to their families."
But Ghoreishi was overruled, with a superior at the State Department responding in an August 10 email seen by the Post, "No response is needed... We can’t be sending out condolences if we are unsure of this individual’s actions."
Israel says al-Sharif was a Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... fighter, and the IDF said some of the other journalists killed with him were also terror operatives. However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the army hasn’t provided proof of the latter claim.
One individual who repeatedly clashed with Ghoreishi within the Department was David Milstein, a senior adviser to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Citing officials familiar with the matter, the Washington Post reported Milstein that is known for confronting staff throughout the State Department in defense of Israeli government policy.
"Milstein is an adviser to an ambassador. That’s it, yet he has his hands in everything," one official told the Post.
David Milstein, senior adviser to U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee in Israel, was a major opponent of Ghoreishi, frequently intervening in State Department matters to defend Israel, according to The Washington Post.
Milstein did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.
The Post said Milstein clashed with other State Department officials when he sought to have a statement released in US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... ’s name that condemned Ireland for advancing legislation that would ban trade with Israeli settlements.
Milstein was overruled by US diplomats in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... who felt the matter should first be raised privately with Dublin.
More recently, Ghoreishi disagreed with Milstein’s effort to get the State Department to refer to the West Bank by its biblical name, "Judea and Samaria.
Milstein had drafted a statement praising House Speaker Mike Johnson for "making history as the highest-ranking US official and first speaker of the House to ever go to Judea and Samaria."
Ghoreishi managed to have the line cut before it was shared with the media, The Post said.
The State Department did not provide Ghoreishi with a reason for his dismissal, which isn’t required, as he was a contractor.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the firing, while also indicating the reason in a statement to The Post.
"We do not comment on leaked emails or allegations. Federal employees should never put their personal political ideologies ahead of the duly elected president’s agenda," Pigott said.
Ghoreishi told The Post his firing raises troubling questions about the US stance on the potential expulsion of Paleostinians.
"Despite a strong reputation and close working relationship with many of my colleagues, I was unable to survive these disputes," he said, stressing that the language he used in the rejected statement condemning the displacement of Paleostinians had been previously approved by the State Department in recent months.
Ghoreishi’s allies in the State Department, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... , told the Post that he was not a rogue employee who opposed administration policy and had even crafted a February tweet from Rubio declaring that the US wanted to "’Make Gaza Beautiful Again.'"
Ghoreishi told the Post he was not motivated by his opposition to Trump and had been inspired by the May speech the president gave in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... "Trump called out neocons and western interventionists for failing the Middle East, and claimed he wanted to help pave a new path for the region. The hawks on the seventh floor of the State Department do not match that vision," Ghoreishi said, referring to the floor that houses Rubio’s and the rest of the office’s top leadership.
As news of Ghoreishi’s ouster went public on Wednesday, far-right activist and conspiracy theorist Trump adviser Laura Loomer called the former press officer a "Pro-Iranian Regime Jihadi Moslem Tied To NIAC."
Ghoreishi said he interned in 2013 at the National Iranian American Council, a pro-Islamic Theocratic Republic organization known chiefly for its lobbying in favor of the 2015 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... nuclear deal.
Loomer has taken credit for the State Department’s Saturday decision to halt the granting of temporary visas to Gazook children who have been coming to the US for medical treatment.
[SDUT] The removal would impact about 60,000 people from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal
A federal appeals court on Wednesday sided with the Trump administration and halted for now a lower court’s order that had kept in place temporary protections for 60,000 migrants from Central America and Nepal.
This means that the Republican administration can move toward removing an estimated 7,000 people from Nepal whose Temporary Protected Status designations expired Aug. 5. The TPS designations and legal status of 51,000 Hondurans and 3,000 Nicaraguans are set to expire Sept. 8, at which point they will become eligible for removal.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco granted the emergency stay pending an appeal as immigrants rights advocates allege that the administration acted unlawfully in ending Temporary Protected Status designations for people from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal.
"The district court’s order granting plaintiffs’ motion to postpone, entered July 31, 2025, is stayed pending further order of this court," wrote the judges, who are appointees of Democrat Bill Clinton and Republicans George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
Temporary Protected Status is a designation that can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary, preventing migrants from being deported and allowing them to work. The Trump administration has aggressively sought to remove the protection, thus making more people eligible for removal. It’s part of a wider effort by the administration to carry out mass deportations of immigrants.
An Army of Davids multiplying the effect of the DOGE group. Go us!
[FoxNews] Review follows Middle East Forum report claiming $25M in grants went to terror-linked groups between 2013-2023
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reviewing federal security grants for Muslim groups with "alleged terrorist ties" after a new report linked past funding to "extremist" organizations.
According to a DHS document obtained by Fox News Digital, 49 projects "with alleged affiliations to terrorist activities" have already been canceled, a move the department estimates will save $8 million.
Hmmm…
The review primarily targets funding distributed through FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which provides aid to churches, mosques, synagogues, and other faith-based institutions facing threats of hate-driven violence.
The probe follows a report by the Middle East Forum, a pro-Israel conservative think tank, which claimed that more than $25 million in DHS and FEMA grants went to "terror-linked groups" between 2013 and 2023.
A DHS official said the department is conducting its own independent review offunding but added, "We take the results of the MEF report very seriously and are thankful for the work of conservative watchdog groups."
The report flagged a $100,000 grant in 2019 to the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Virginia, which Customs and Border Protection once described as a "mosque operating as a front for Hamas operatives in the U.S.," according to records obtained by the Investigative Project through the Freedom of Information Act.
In response to the MEF’s findings, DHS is reviewing all current and future contracts to ensure funds are not awarded to such organizations. Officials said the department is also examining ways to recover unspent funds.
Funding for fiscal year 2024 has already been allocated. That includes $94 million for 500 Jewish organizations and another $110 million shared among 600 Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jewish institutions.
For fiscal year 2025, DHS said applicants will face tougher requirements to ensure a "robust" vetting process.
As it should be.
"We don’t want to be empowering groups that could be causing a threat to our community here in the United States," a DHS official said.
The Middle East Forum’s report also highlighted specific cases of funding that it claims went to groups with extremist ties. It said $10.3 million had gone to the Islamic Circle of North America, which the forum alleges is tied to the South Asian Islamist movement Jamaat-e-Islami.
The report further cited $250,000 awarded to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which DHS has accused of having "Hamas ties." Another $750,000, according to the report, went to mosques in Michigan and Texas that DHS described as "outposts for Iran’s revolutionary brand of Shi’a Islamism," including the Islamic Center of America and the Islamic House of Wisdom near Detroit, as well as the Islamic Ahlul Bayt Association in Austin.
CAIR told Fox News Digital it has no active federal contracts with DHS.
"While our civil rights organization has no active federal grants that the Department could eliminate or cut, and while the government cannot ban American organizations from receiving federal grants based on their religious affiliation or their criticism of Israel's genocide in Gaza," a CAIR spokesperson said, "it’s important to note that Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security is embarrassing President Trump by making decisions based on the ravings of the Middle East Forum, an Israel First hate website."
FEMA has previously worked with CAIR, holding seminars to encourage participation in the NSGP program.
But last week, CAIR urged organizations to withdraw from applying for DHS and FEMA grants — including the NSGP — unless DHS drops two new vetting rules. Those provisions require recipients to cooperate with immigration officials and prohibit them from running programs tied to diversity, equity, inclusion, or aid to undocumented immigrants, as well as from engaging in certain "discriminatory prohibited boycotts."
#1
It seems, more and more, that the DC Swamp, here and around the world, has used NGO funding as a means to generate unrest and hostility.
To what end?
Was it to keep conflicts going for the M.I.C. sales & DC Pockets kickbacks, to destabilize certain economic areas or nations for ROI investment purposes?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/21/2025 6:57 Comments ||
Top||
#3
/\ It seems, more and more, that the DC Swamp, here and around the world, has used NGO funding as a means to generate unrest and hostility.
Yes, money laundering for unpublicized intentions to include kak disturbing (aka
"unrest and hostility") and regime change. All a bit easier to discern, now having experienced it right here in the homeland.
[BBC] The US has reached bilateral deportation agreements with Honduras and Uganda as part of its crackdown on illegal immigration, according documents obtained by the BBC's US partner CBS.
Uganda has agreed to take an unclear number of African and Asian migrants colonists who had claimed asylum on the US-Mexico border, while Honduras will receive several hundred deported people from Spanish-speaking countries, CBS reports.
Both taking people not their own. Nice!
The move is part of an attempt by Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... 's administration to get more countries to accept deported migrants colonists who are not their own citizens.
Human rights campaigners have condemned the policy, saying migrants colonists face the risk of being sent to countries where they could be harmed.
Under the agreement, Uganda has agreed to accept deported migrants colonists as long as they do not have criminal histories, but it's unclear how many the country would ultimately take, according to CBS.
Honduras agreed to receive migrants colonists over two years, including families travelling with children, but documents suggest it could decide to accept more.
Both deals are part of the Trump administration's broader push for deportation arrangements with countries on several continents - including those with controversial human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... records.
So far, at least a dozen nations have agreed to accept deported migrants colonists from other countries.
[IsraelTimes] Move slammed by international court as ‘flagrant attack’ on its independence; Netanyahu praises decision as ‘a firm step against the false smear campaign targeting Israel’
The Trump administration on Wednesday announced sanctions against four more members of the International Criminal Court over their efforts to prosecute Israeli and American officials.
The move, announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... , was praised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lauded the US for working to counter the "false smear campaign" against Jerusalem.
The US designated Judge Nicolas Yann Guillou of La Belle France for signing off last year on arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed in Gazoo, along with deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... for upholding those warrants.
Judge Kimberly Prost of Canada was also designated for a ruling that authorized the ICC’s investigation into US personnel in Afghanistan.
In response, the ICC on Wednesday decried the sanctions as a "flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution that operates under the mandate from 125 states parties from all regions."
In a statement, the court said the sanctions "constitute also an affront against the Court’s States Parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world," the court added. "The ICC will continue fulfilling mandates in strict accordance with its legal framework, without regard to any pressure or threat."
The four ICC officials join four others who were sanctioned by the Trump administration in June, two of whom were also involved in the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
The sanctions announced on Wednesday freeze any US assets of the designated officials and block their entry to the country.
Israel and the US view the ICC’s efforts to prosecute Israeli officials as illegitimate, as Jerusalem is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that created the court and because the US doesn’t recognize the Paleostinian Authority as a sovereign state with the right to request such action. Israel also denies the charges brought against Netanyahu and Gallant.
"The United States has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC’s politicization, abuse of power, disregard for our national illusory sovereignty, and illegitimate judicial overreach," Rubio said in a statement announcing the latest batch of sanctions.
"The court is a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel," he added.
"It remains the policy of the United States government to take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our troops, our illusory sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions," Rubio continued. "I urge countries that still support the ICC, many of whose freedom was purchased at the price of great American sacrifices, to resist the claims of this bankrupt institution."
La Belle France on Wednesday expressed dismay at the US decision. A foreign ministry front man said the sanctions, including against French jurist Guillou, stood "in contradiction to the principle of an independent judiciary."
In June, the US introduced sanctions against judges Beti Hohler of Slovenia and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin ...Benin, a French-speaking West African nation, that they put where Dahomey used to be. It is a birthplace of voodoo and zombies. In Abomey, Dahomey's former capital, the Historical Museum occupies two royal palaces with bas-reliefs recounting the kingdom’s past and a throne mounted on human skulls. To the north, Pendjari National Park offers safaris with elephants, hippos and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!... for their part in proceedings that led the court to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, and against Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru and Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, for their roles in the court proceedings that authorized an investigation into alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan.
And in February, chief ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was placed on Washington’s list of "Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons," barring him from doing business with Americans and placing restrictions on his entry into the US. Khan took a leave of absence earlier this year amid an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.
The Trump administration’s dislike of the court goes back to his first term. In 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the court’s work on Afghanistan. Those sanctions were rescinded by president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. The man who made Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter look competent, if only by comparison.... ’s administration in early 2021.
Trump on Friday welcomed 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... to Alaska even though Putin faces an ICC arrest warrant, a factor that has stopped him from traveling more widely since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
The ICC is objectively an anti-Western international alliance, its "rules" and "laws" are the consensus will of the murderous third world sh**hole regimes that dominate the UN.
Many ostensibly Western nations are members and accomplices of this anti-Western alliance because the West is afflicted by suicidal empathy / masochism.
By persecuting Israel's political leadership while ignoring the state actors behind 10/7 the ICC has forfeited any benefit of any doubt about its fundamentally malicious nature.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Trump administration gave NATO a choice in the near future, either NATO members leave the ICC or the US leaves NATO.
[IsraelTimes] First Lady Michal Herzog welcomes the United Nations’ decision to add Hamas to its official “blacklist” of countries and groups that commit sexual crimes in violent conflicts, calling the move “a long time coming.”
Herzog, who has been a leading voice in raising awareness of Hamas’s sexual violence since October 7, says the evidence has been clear for months. She points to an early 2024 report by the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, that documented Hamas’s deliberate and systematic crimes.
“The world must understand: Hamas uses rape as a weapon,” Herzog says. “These atrocities — rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, sexual abuse in captivity — are not incidental. They are deliberate, premeditated and systematic tools of terror.”
Her comments come a week after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres formally placed Hamas on the blacklist for the first time, while also warning that Israel itself could be added in the future if allegations of misconduct by its forces are substantiated.
[Rudaw] The Iran-aligned Iraqi gang Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba says it is under imminent threat of Israeli attacks, a bigwig from the group told Rudaw on Wednesday, while also voicing strong support for a controversial bill aimed at formalizing the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
"We are facing real and continuous threats," said Hussein al-Moussawi, deputy secretary-general of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba. "We have received information about [Israel planning to] launch attacks on our forces."
Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba is a powerful faction within the PMF, comprising its 12th brigade.
The PMF is an umbrella organization of primarily Shiite armed factions that was formed in 2014 following a religious edict, fatwa, by Iraq’s supreme Shiite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The edict came against the backdrop of the blitz offensive launched by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS), which saw the group overrun nearly a third of Iraqi territory.
Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba also operates with a significant degree of autonomy and is considered a key component of the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance®," alongside groups like Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and Kata’ib Hezbollah.
It is also believed to be a core part of the "Islamic Resistance® in Iraq" - a loose network of Iran-backed gangs that emerged following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... war in October 2023. The entity has claimed dozens of attacks on US interests in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan since the war began, ostensibly aimed at pressuring Washington to reduce its support for Israel.
SUPPORT FOR PMF BILL
Moussawi additionally reaffirmed to Rudaw his group’s support for the PMF bill currently under debate in Iraq’s Parliament, describing it as a step that "gives legitimacy to the Iraqi government."
The bill seeks to institutionalize the PMF as a permanent part of Iraq’s formal security forces, granting it a dedicated budget, hierarchical structure, and even a military academy. Proponents, largely from the Shiite-led Coordination Framework, argue the law is essential to recognize the PMF's contributions in the war against ISIS and to provide long-term benefits to its fighters.
However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... critics - including the United States - warn that the legislation could entrench Iranian influence in Iraq by providing Iran-aligned factions with financial independence and increased political leverage within Baghdad.
The senior Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba official also welcomed the US-led coalition’s planned drawdown from Iraq.
A senior advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... i confirmed on Sunday that coalition forces will withdraw from "their headquarters in the capital Baghdad and the Ain al-Asad base in [western Iraq’s Anbar province]" by September-end, adding that the full conclusion of the coalition’s mission is scheduled for September 2026.
The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was formed in 2014 under President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... to degrade and ultimately defeat the group. Its military operations in Iraq began in October 2014 with Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s and later expanded to include advising and training Iraqi security forces.
The coalition consists of over 60 countries and international organizations, including key members such as the US, United Kingdom, La Belle France, Germany, Canada, Australia, and several Middle Eastern nations. Member states contribute through military personnel, equipment, training, and financial support. As of mid-2025, the US maintains around 2,500 troops in Iraq.
However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... the coalition forces presence in Iraq became a contentious issue after the US strike that killed Iran’s Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of Iraq’s PMF, near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020. Days later, 168 members of Iraq’s 329-member parliament voted to expel foreign forces from the country.
[IsraelTimes] A video released from Gaza City on Monday — and circulating on social media in the past few hours — by a group in Gaza calling itself “Ahrar Bayt al-Maqdis” claims it has received humanitarian aid in the form of food through donations from Al-Qaeda in Yemen.
The group is not known, but its name suggests it may be a Muslim Salafi group operating in Gaza.
It isn’t clear if the claim is true and how the Yemeni goods would have been snuck into the Strip.
[IsraelTimes] Mossad Commentary allowed into Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom Crossing to view mounting aid; account repeatedly publishes unsubstantiated claims
Online influencers, including a social media account that has repeatedly spread misinformation amid the war, were escorted by the Israeli military into the Gazoo Strip on Wednesday to see the Paleostinian side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, where aid has been mounting.
The Israel Defense Forces and the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories in July escorted Israeli and international media news hounds to Kerem Shalom Crossing to view the aid packages waiting to be collected by the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... , as part of a campaign aimed at pressuring the UN to step up its activities.
The military and COGAT have since invited social media influencers to view the aid at the crossing, while also denying access to politicians, such as Labor MK Gilad Kariv, whose requests were rebuffed (Hebrew link).
In late July, former Israeli government front man Eylon Levy was at the crossing, and in early August, Israeli model and influencer Nataly Dadon posted footage to Instagram from an IDF-escorted visit to the aid depot in Gaza.
On Wednesday, an account on the X social media site, which impersonates Israel’s Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... intelligence agency, published a live broadcast from the Gazook side of Kerem Shalom, despite army regulations barring livestreaming from within the Strip.
A man apparently behind the account interviewed the IDF’s international media front man, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, from the crossing regarding the aid efforts.
The account, using the name Mossad Commentary and the spy agency’s logo, has repeatedly published misinformation and sensitive information not permitted for publication during the war. It currently has over 848,000 followers and is seen by millions of users.
At the start of the war in October 2023, the account made numerous false claims, including: sharing a clip from the Arma 3 video game, falsely claiming it to be of Israel’s in-development laser air defense system, the Iron Beam; stating that "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... officially declares war on Israel," despite that not being the case; and amplifying a false rumor that Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... Lions of Islam "baked a baby in the oven" during the October 7 onslaught.
In April 2024, the account falsely claimed that the deaths of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen organization in the Gaza Strip were caused by a roadside kaboom planted by Hamas. The IDF has said that its dronezaps killed the aid workers.
In September 2024, the fake Mossad account published the names of six hostages whose bodies were found inside a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah after being murdered by Hamas, hours before the bodies were brought out of Gaza for identification, while the troops were still inside the tunnel.
Their families had also not been notified when the names were posted to social media and viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
A spokesperson for COGAT said it and the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit had coordinated the entry of the influencers, thought they did not say if they vetted them. The IDF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Did they get a permit before they started building, or did they just assume they could ignore Israeli legal procedures again?
[IsraelTimes] The European Union is “appalled” by Israel’s demolition of a school under construction in al-Aqaba, a village in the northern West Bank, which was funded by the EU and France, an EU spokesperson says in a statement.
The school was intended to serve hundreds of Palestinian students from multiple communities, the spokesperson added.
“The EU expects its investments in support of the Palestinian people to be protected from damage and destruction by Israel, in accordance with international law,” the statement continues.
France has also condemned the demolition, stating it is “holding the Israeli authorities to account for this action.”
[IsraelTimes] Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) accuses the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... of providing misleading data on the number of humanitarian aid trucks 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 accusation is based on the fact that a UN online dashboard documenting aid deliveries in Gaza only includes those that the UN is involved in, and not deliveries conducted independent of the UN, including the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — which runs aid distribution sites in Gaza — airdrops by various nations, and the private sector in Gaza.
It’s unclear why COGAT expects the UN to have data on the whereabouts of aid from unaffiliated organizations once it enters Gaza.
The UN dashboard even specifies that the "data presented on this dashboard include only humanitarian relief consignments processed through the UN2720 Mechanism," referring to a delivery mechanism led by the UN, which not all aid groups are registered with.
COGAT, the Defense Ministry body that coordinates humanitarian matters in the Gaza Strip, says it conducted a "comprehensive review" that exposes a "dramatic gap between the actual number of aid trucks entering Gaza and the figures presented by the UN."
"Since May, according to UN data, only 3,553 trucks entered the Gaza Strip. In reality, Israel allowed the entry of nearly 9,200 trucks. This represents a gap of almost 6,000 trucks — 2.5 times the volume of aid that the UN claims actually entered," COGAT says.
"The fact that the UN presents only part of the aid actually transferred misleads the international community and creates a false picture of the situation, directly influencing global media coverage and shaping the positions of international decision-makers regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza," COGAT charges, despite the UN dashboard specifying that it does not record all aid deliveries.
COGAT claims the UN dashboard "purports to present a full picture of all humanitarian aid, but in practice it includes only the trucks facilitated by UN agencies and a small number of aid organizations working with them."
"The dashboard fails to include aid delivered by other actors in the humanitarian system, including various states, additional international organizations, the private sector, airdrops, and the distribution centers of the American company," COGAT says.
COGAT runs its own dashboard, which it says "provides a daily breakdown of the number of trucks entering Gaza, categorized by crossing point and type of goods."
"The data presented on the site reflects the full and accurate picture of the aid that Israel allows into the Gaza Strip," it adds.
However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... COGAT’s data too is incomplete as it only tracks aid once it is offloaded from Gaza terminals, with limited data on its delivery within the Strip.
[Rudaw] Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Tuesday held a rare meeting with Ron Dermer, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister and top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Gay Paree. The discussions, reportedly mediated by the US, come as Syria struggles to maintain control over Druze-majority areas in the south, where protesters recently called for separation from the Syrian state.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported Tuesday that Shaibani met with "an Israeli delegation" in Gay Paree to "discuss a number of issues related to enhancing stability in the region and southern Syria." The talks, "held under US mediation," are "part of diplomatic efforts aimed at promoting security and stability in Syria and preserving its unity and territorial integrity."
While SANA did not disclose the identities of the Israeli officials involved, Israeli media reported that Shaibani met with Dermer - reports confirmed on Wednesday by another Syrian state outlet, al-Ikhbariya channel.
According to SANA, the discussions centered on "de-escalation, non-interference in internal affairs, reaching understandings that support stability in the region and monitoring the ceasefire in the [predominantly Druze] Suwayda province" in southern Syria.
Clashes broke out on July 13 between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes in Suwayda. The conflict escalated with the involvement of Syrian government forces before a US-brokered ceasefire was announced on July 19.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported in mid-August that the corpse count from the Suwayda violence had reached 1,677, including "452 civilians field-executed" by Syrian government forces. The monitor has reported near-daily ceasefire violations since mid-June.
ISRAELI ROLE
Amid the Suwayda violence, Israel conducted Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s targeting Syrian military and government sites.
Israel’s stated reason for the strikes - which included the bombing of a Syrian defense ministry building in Damascus - was to protect the Druze community, citing deep cultural and familial ties between Israeli and Syrian Druze.
However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... beyond humanitarian concerns, Israel's intervention seems to have also been driven by long-standing strategic interests in Syria - particularly its aim to maintain a demilitarized buffer zone in southern Syria near its borders.
In early December, a coalition of opposition forces - then spearheaded by the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS), under Ahmed al-Sharaa, led a swift offensive toppling the regime of longtime Syrian dictator Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... . Sharaa in late January became Syria’s interim president.
Since then, Tel Aviv has intensified efforts to destroy Damascus’s military stockpiles and its forces have entered buffer zones east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Israel had captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1974, a US-brokered Disengagement Agreement created a UN-monitored buffer zone to reduce tensions by delineating separation lines between Syrian and Israeli forces without establishing formal peace.
According to SANA, Shaibani’s meeting with the Israeli delegation also discussed "reactivating the 1974 agreement."
BACKCHANNEL DIPLOMACY
Despite being technically at war since 1948, this Gay Paree meeting marks the second recent engagement between Shaibani and Dermer. A previous meeting took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on July 31, also prompted by the Suwayda unrest.
The Baku talks reportedly included US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, who later confirmed the meeting stating, "Our goal was dialogue and de-escalation, and we accomplished precisely that."
On Tuesday, Barrack posted a photo on X with Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, who had urged Israeli intervention during the Suwayda festivities. Barrack described their meeting as "warm and informative," adding: "We discussed the situation in Suwayda and how to bring together the interests of all parties, de-escalate tensions, and build understanding."
Shaibani’s Gay Paree meeting also followed protests in Suwayda on Saturday, which saw Druze demonstrators wave Israeli flags and call for self-determination. In video footage shared online, some protesters were heard demanding to join Israel.
In response, interim President Sharaa, speaking during a dialogue session with dignitaries from Idlib province late night on Saturday, warned against any movement toward partition.
"We have toppled the [Assad] regime in the battle for the liberation of Syria, and we still have another battle ahead to unify Syria. This must not be with blood and military force," he said.
Hinting at the Suwayda protests, Sharaa added, "Some parties are trying to seek strength from a regional power - Israel or others. This is a very difficult matter and cannot be implemented." He called the idea of dividing Syria "impossible."
In a similar vein, Shaibani and Dermer were cited by the state-run media outlet al-Ikhbariya on Tuesday as reaffirming "commitment to the unity of Syrian territories and rejecting any projects aimed at their division."
The two sides emphasized that "Suwayda is an integral part of Syria and that the Druze citizens are an authentic part of its national fabric."
[Rudaw] The International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) said on Tuesday that humanitarian and health conditions have severely deteriorated in Syria’s southern Druze-majority Suwayda province after sectarian violence displaced more than 192,000 people, leaving residents facing dire shortages of food, medicine, and basic services.
"The violence in Suwayda has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people. Communications with the province were cut off, amid a severe shortage of food and water, in addition to power outages and the complete disruption of the banking system," Suhair Zakkout, the ICRC’s Middle East spokesperson, told Rudaw.
Clashes broke out on July 13 between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes in Suwayda. The conflict escalated with the involvement of Syrian government forces before a US-brokered ceasefire was announced on July 19.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported in mid-August that the corpse count from the Suwayda violence had reached 1,677, including "452 civilians field-executed" by Syrian government forces. The monitor has reported near-daily ceasefire violations since mid-June.
According to Zakkout, over 192,000 people have been displaced from Suwayda since festivities broke out, with 58,000 fleeing to neighboring Daraa province.
"Each household in Suwayda has taken in three to four displaced families, placing heavy pressure on local communities, particularly in the first weeks of the crisis. Doctors at Suwayda’s National Hospital are still working under extremely difficult conditions, she lamented, adding that medical supplies in the province’s hospitals are depleting.
Zakkout emphasized that "the ICRC has prioritized the delivery of life-saving supplies to Suwayda city, Daraa National Hospital, and Shahba Hospital from the outset," and they remain in contact with authorities in Damascus to support relief efforts.
However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... she added that the situation in Suwayda "remains critical" despite the entry of humanitarian aid convoys.
Zakkout shared a testimony from a worker at Suwayda National Hospital, who said she held her children tightly to shield them from the violence. The woman said that her children were too frightened to move from one room of their house to another, even after the fighting subsided.
Amid the Suwayda violence, Israel conducted Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s targeting Syrian military and government sites.
Israel’s stated reason for the strikes - which included the bombing of a Syrian defense ministry building in Damascus - was to protect the Druze community, citing deep cultural and familial ties between Israeli and Syrian Druze.
[Jpost] Iran's GPS system was shut down on Wednesday due to concerns of drone activity in the region, Al-Arabiya reported, citing the country's communications minister, Sattar Hashemi, as saying.
Hashemi said in a televised statement that "these outages affected the quality of communications and business" in the area.
Since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, Islamic Republic authorities have resorted to jamming navigation, which the country's Communications Ministry has said was done for "security and military considerations."
The Islamic Republic confirmed that services are gradually being restored after the war, with the exception of GPS systems, according to the report. Al-Arabiya cited local reports saying that "these measures could harm the digital economy and public safety, including emergency services."
GPS JAMMERS AND SHUTTING DOWN NAVIGATION APPLICATIONS
Earlier this month, it was reported that the IDF had been increasing the use of GPS jammers in Eilat, on the Jordanian border, and near the northern Lebanese border, amid the possibility that Hezbollah and Iran would launch precision missiles and unmanned aircraft toward Israel.
During the 12-day war with Iran, Israel had shut down all its navigation applications as a result of Iranian strikes on residential centers throughout the country.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
08/21/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
Mossad KNOWS that you had for dinner - not enough veggies!!!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
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