[POLITICO] Sensitive F-35 fighter jet technology was unexpectedly diverted to Hong Kong this summer, sparking an inquiry on Capitol Hill and raising the possibility that China could have access to key components of the highly classified weapon system.
A shipment of F-35 parts bound for the United States for repairs was rerouted as it transited the Pacific Ocean from Australia, according to three people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. The Pentagon confirmed the disappearance of some components.
The parts, which an intermediary was transporting on behalf of F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, instead wound up in Hong Kong. It’s not clear why the equipment was rerouted or who has possession of it now.
The incident, which has not been previously reported, triggered an ongoing series of briefings for congressional staff on key national security committees. State Department and Pentagon officials first briefed staff in June, according to the people, and multiple additional briefings are expected in the coming weeks.
The shipment included one of the jet’s canopies, which covers the cockpit and contains stealth technology that only the U.S. and its allies have access to, according to two of the people. An adversary could study the parts and potentially reverse-engineer the prized technology if it had one of the canopies.
The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office said in a statement it was “aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components.”
The office is working with U.S. authorities and industry partners “to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence,” it added.
[IsraelTimes] Jason Eaton ruled to have been aware of his actions when he fired at students in Vermont in Nov. 2023; they were dressed ‘like terrorists,’ he told his lawyers, citing Gaza hostages
A US jury on Monday convicted a Vermont man of attempted murder in the shootings of three Paleostinian college students who were walking near his home, rejecting an insanity defense rooted in his claims that he was acting on orders from US and Israeli intelligence agencies.
Jason Eaton faces up to life in prison for the November 2023 attack in Burlington, which paralyzed Hisham Awartani from the waist down and maimed his friends, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid.
The men, all 20 at the time, had been visiting Awartani’s grandmother for Thanksgiving. They were smoking cigarettes and speaking a mix of English and Arabic as they walked near the University of Vermont campus after dusk. Two of them were wearing traditional Paleostinian scarves known as keffiyehs.
The jury deliberated for several hours before reaching its verdict after a weeklong trial that saw testimony from the three men, who recounted how their stroll ended in bloodshed, and defense and prosecution psychiatric experts who offered differing views of Eaton’s mental health and criminal culpability.
Eaton, 51, stared ahead blankly as the verdict was read, standing alongside his lawyers — public defenders whom he tried to fire last week over his concerns that his defense hadn’t been "adequately presented." Judge John Pacht, who blocked Eaton’s midtrial bid to act as his own lawyer, ordered him jugged Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! pending sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.
Awartani and Aliahmad watched from the front row of the courtroom gallery, smiling and hugging people around them.
"The verdict cannot undo what happened or erase the trauma our families still carry, but it affirms something fundamental: Jason Eaton is responsible for what he did," Awartani’s mother, Elizabeth Price, told news hounds afterward.
EATON CLAIMED HE WAS ACTING ON ORDERS FROM THE CIA AND MOSSAD
Eaton had pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." but did not dispute that he was the shooter. He claimed that the CIA and Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... transmitted their orders via FM radio and that God was commanding him to protect his Jewish neighbors. His lawyers had urged jurors to find him not guilty by reason of insanity, an outcome that would’ve spared him from prison but could have required that he undergo mental health treatment.
Eaton’s lawyers, Margaret Jansch and Joshua O’Hara, said he had struggled with mental health issues his whole life, including diagnoses of attention deficit, post-traumatic stress, bipolar, depression and borderline personality disorders, culminating in a psychotic break after losing his job at a credit union two weeks before the shooting.
Prosecutor Sarah George countered that Eaton was a narcissist but not legally insane. He had a grandiose sense of self-importance and lacked empathy but was fully aware of the criminality of his conduct, George said in a closing argument. He appeared nervous when police arrived at his door, repeatedly asked for a lawyer and hasn’t claimed to have received any other messages directing his actions, she said.
Eaton told officers that he had a shotgun in his apartment, but didn’t disclose that he had other weapons, including a Ruger .380-caliber handgun that was found in a bedroom dresser and that crime lab testing concluded was used in the shooting, said George, the Chittenden County state’s attorney.
VICTIM’S MOTHER SAYS EATON SHOULD’VE BEEN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIMES
The shooting, weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... war, shook Burlington and reverberated in the West Bank, where the three maimed men grew up and became friends as schoolmates in Ramallah before moving to the US for college. It spawned calls for a hate crime investigation.
But no hate crime charges were filed as questions persisted about whether anti-Paleostinian animus, an altered mental state or something else had compelled Eaton to open fire. After the verdict, Awartani’s mother said Eaton’s hateful rhetoric, aired at the trial, had made it clear why he targeted her son.
VICTIMS RECOUNTED HOW A PEACEFUL WALK ENDED IN BLOODSHED
Awartani testified last week that he first noticed Eaton standing on a porch as they approached the apartment house where he lived. Within seconds, Awartani said, Eaton was off the porch and walking toward them. His face was expressionless and he didn’t say anything. As Eaton got to about 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 meters) away, "he pulled out a handgun and started shooting at us," Awartani said.
Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College near Philadelphia, said he fled and hid behind another home after seeing Aliahmad fall to the ground. He said he only realized later when he sat down that he had also been maimed.
Awartani, who was studying at Brown University in Rhode Island at the time, was shot in the chest and the bullet ricocheted off his scapula, causing paraplegia in his spinal cord. Aliahmad, who was a student at Trinity College in Connecticut, was struck in the collarbone, and Abdalhamid was shot in the right buttock.
Jacob Pyne, who lived in a different apartment in the same house as Eaton, testified that he heard four to six gunshots, followed by footsteps going up the stairs of the apartment house. He said he ran outside and heard two men speaking, one of whom was more vocal and yelling, "I’ve been shot, help me." He then brought the men blankets and called 911.
Eaton didn’t testify. In an opening statement last week, O’Hara told jurors that Eaton claimed he started receiving messages while listening to a local NPR affiliate. At first, the messages were encouraging and validating, the lawyer said, but subsequent messages turned dark, insisting that Eaton "has to go out and shoot somebody."
Why? What could each possibly get out of the relationship?
[ShabelleMedia] Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met with a senior Pak Air Force delegation at the presidential palace to discuss strengthening Somalia’s air force and expanding defense cooperation between the two countries.
The delegation was led by Air Marshal Muhammad Sarfraz, Pakistain’s air defense commander and deputy chief of the Pakistain Air Force, according to the Somali presidency.
Somalia’s Defense Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, army chief Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Mohammed Mohamud and Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Abdirisaq Mahmoud Haji also attended the meeting.
The talks focused on efforts to accelerate the development of Somalia’s air force, including improving operational capabilities, training and the professional development of its personnel.
The two sides also discussed ways to strengthen defense cooperation between Somalia and Pakistain, as Mogadishu works to develop its national security institutions and increase the capabilities of its armed forces.
Somalia has been seeking to build up its air force as part of broader efforts to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities and reduce reliance on international military support.
The government has placed increased emphasis on developing the capacity of the Somali armed forces as responsibility for national security operations continues to shift toward Somali forces.
The meeting forms part of broader efforts by Somalia to develop its air defense capabilities and improve the training and readiness of its military personnel.
The Somali presidency said cooperation with Pakistain would contribute to efforts to develop the air force and support the wider objectives of the armed forces’ command.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/22/2026 00:00 ||
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[FoxNews] CBP and Coast Guard arrested 23 illegal immigrants near Key Largo, seizing a 27-foot vessel and a Cuban suspected smuggler
A smuggling vessel filled with Chinese nationals and other illegal immigrants was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Coast Guard in what sources called a rare and "extremely dangerous" attempt to enter the U.S. through Florida.
CBP confirmed the interdiction exclusively with Fox News, sharing video and photos of U.S. authorities intercepting the vessel, which was carrying 22 illegal immigrants, including 13 Chinese nationals. The boat, a 27-foot cuddy cabin vessel, was stopped, and the migrants aboard were arrested without incident Tuesday. The interdiction took place near Angelfish Creek, Florida, near Key Largo.
According to the agency, a CBP Air and Marine Operations multi-role enforcement aircraft first detected the vessel. The interdiction, carried out by CBP alongside Coast Guard personnel, resulted in the apprehension of one suspected smuggler, a Cuban national, 13 Chinese nationals, eight Ecuadorian nationals and one Dominican national.
Sources emphasized to Fox News that it is extremely rare for Chinese nationals to attempt to enter the U.S. through maritime Caribbean routes that are typically used by Haitians, Dominicans and Cubans. During the Biden administration, Chinese nationals typically entered the U.S. through land routes in California and Texas, which are now subject to tighter enforcement under the Trump administration.
Andres Blanco, executive director of Air and Marine Operations Southeast Region, told Fox News that "attempting to enter the United States illegally by sea is extremely dangerous and will not go undetected."
Blanco said that "this interdiction demonstrates the strength of our maritime partnerships and our commitment to stopping human smuggling organizations before they can put more lives at risk."
He added that "those who attempt these dangerous voyages face arrest, prosecution, removal, and the very real possibility of losing their lives at sea."
The illegal immigrants were transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Pablo Valent for processing. Meanwhile, authorities seized the vessel.
After the operation, Coast Guard Lt. Corryn Ulrich, the commanding officer of the Pablo Valent, told Fox News that "the U.S. border remains secure due to highly capable teams and coordinated interagency enforcement" and that "we remain ready to save lives and enforce federal law at sea."
The CBP Air and Marine Operations unit is designed to anticipate and confront aviation and maritime threats to America’s national integrity, according to the agency.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet Thursday in Washington, D.C.
Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang claimed that, despite the leaders trumpeting a positive relationship, Xi is mulling a war against the United States and organizing troops "for battle."
"Xi Jinping keeps on talking about going to war against us… and also he's preparing China's society, civilian and military, for battle. And we think we're at peace," Chang said Sunday on "Fox News Live." "So, this is a very dangerous period for us."
Chang’s remarks follow reports that China aided Iran in attacks that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan earlier this summer.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
09/22/2026 00:10 ||
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[FOX] When asked why Germany is allowing Hamas and Hezbollah operatives and members to conduct activities within its territory, the press office of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior told Fox News Digital in part, "Hamas, which has been banned from operating in Germany since 2023, has a network of supporters and followers; however, for many years they have tended to act with restraint in public and avoid any outward signs of connection to the organization."
Kind of like how they acted in Gaza before 10/7. Goody.
The Interior Ministry’s press office added, "Hezbollah, which is also subject to a ban on its activities in Germany, is not organized under any nationwide umbrella organization or similar supraregional structure. Rather, its supporters are spread across various associations throughout Germany. The focus of the activities of these associations — which are classified as affiliated with Hezbollah —lies in the religious and cultural spheres, as well as in educational programs for children, youth and adults that promote conservative Islam and a Shi’ite identity. In isolated cases, Hezbollah supporters in Germany have been known to engage in specific acts of support for the organization in Lebanon."
#2
"Unlike my relationships past,
This romance with Mohammed will last,"
Lisped Europa, intact,
Upon Allah's broad back,
As she glimpsed the Mohammedans massed.
Posted by: Uning the Ruthless7693 ||
09/22/2026 12:36 Comments ||
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#4
Irony, that (and insinuation of inbreeding via unspoken "relatively"). ;-) But seriously, does the camel visual work, or does "broad" need to be "humped"? Didn't wanna drub a dead dromedary.
Posted by: Uning the Ruthless7693 ||
09/22/2026 13:42 Comments ||
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#5
Let us know how it works out all knowing Euro dipshit!
Posted by: chris ||
09/22/2026 20:17 Comments ||
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#6
I missed the insinuation of camels, somehow seeing an elephant’s broad back.
[JTN] War Secretary Pete Hegseth will lead a new Pentagon advisory board that will oversee a blend of homeland security and defense, according to a Federal Register notice.
The Homeland Defense Board, which was first reported by Defense News on Monday, will fill what the Pentagon sees as a gap in the “specific, integrated advice” the secretary needs to defend the homeland, which is not available through alternative sources.
“While other agencies and departments operate within specific mission or geographic areas, their advisory mechanisms are statutorily constrained to their respective non-military domains,” the panel’s establishing documents read. “Relying solely on internal DoW staff or contracted studies is also insufficient, as it fails to provide the consensus-based, independent, and external peer review required at the highest levels of strategic decision-making.”
The new board will consist of up to 20 members, including the secretary of defense, who will serve as chair; the assistant secretary of defense for Homeland Defense and Americas Security Affairs as vice chair; and the deputy assistant secretaries of defense for Homeland Defense and Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance.
One civilian and one field- or mid-grade officer from each military branch and “such other members as the SecWar or the Deputy Secretary of War may appoint or designate," will also serve on the board.
The board's creation comes after Hegseth cut all members of existing Pentagon advisory panels last year after he ordered a 45-day “zero-based review” to determine if the roughly 40 such committees were aligned with the Trump administration’s policy priorities.
His own, personal DOGE…
The review recommended cutting 14 different defense advisory groups, including the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, which was first established in 1951.
A solid start on speeding up decisions. Well done!
[Jpost] An Iraqi court on Sunday opened the trial of six Frenchies accused of belonging to 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.... , with a member of the Supreme Judicial Council telling the court that the suspects could face the death penalty if convicted of crimes committed against Iraq and the Iraqi people.
Two court legal sources said the defendants were among 47 French Islamic State detainees transferred from prisons in northeast Syria last year as part of a broader relocation process overseen by US forces and Iraqi authorities.
The French embassy in Baghdad did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Officials from the embassy were present at the Baghdad criminal court, according to a Rooters witness inside the court.
The six men, who are being tried under Iraq's counterterrorism law, arrived at the court in a prison van escorted by a convoy of Humvees carrying Iraqi special forces personnel. The men were dressed in yellow prison jumpsuits.
The presiding judge adjourned the hearing until October 5 to allow defense lawyers time to review the case file.
Abbas al-Maliki, a court-appointed lawyer representing one of the defendants, told Rooters his client was being tried on charges of membership of Islamic State.
US TRANSFERS ISLAMIC STATE PRISONERS TO IRAQ FROM SYRIA
Islamic State seized large tracts of Syria and Iraq in 2014 before it was driven out by US-led coalition forces five years later. Many of the group's holy warriors were detained, though remnants of the jihadist group still operate.
The United States announced in January that it had begun transferring Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq amid concerns over the security of detention facilities in northeast Syria after Kurdish-led forces lost control of parts of the region.
Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in February that discussions were being held with other countries to repatriate their citizens and that Baghdad had sought international financial support to deal with the influx of prisoners.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/22/2026 00:00 ||
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[North Press] Iraq’s Kurdistan Region on Monday announced the unification of its Peshmerga forces after completing the integration of Units 70 and 80 under a unified command and control structure affiliated with the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.
A ceremony marking the unification of the Peshmerga forces was held in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, attended by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, Peshmerga Affairs Minister Shoresh Ismail, Iraqi Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief’s Office Director Abdul Amir al-Shammari, as well as officials and representatives of the Global Coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Following the announcement, the forces of Units 70 and 80 came fully under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.
In 2022, the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs announced the launch of the first phase of the unification process. On Monday, the process reached its final stage.
Peshmerga Affairs Minister Shoresh Ismail said the unification was carried out according to a “precise and well-studied military plan.”
During the ceremony, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said, “After a long period of work, we have been able to reach this day and unify the Peshmerga forces.”
He added that the Kurdistan Regional Government would work to strengthen the forces to protect the country.
Thank an Israeli because you’re alive to go to school. Blame Hamas and Egypt that your surroundings are so insalubrious. If only Hamas hadn’t made every school an arms depot and an entry to 500 miles of war tunnels, needing to be taken out of play the only way possible. If only Egypt had not locked the border closed, keeping you in Gaza as the bombs fell instead of letting you into their peaceful land.
[IsraelTimes] Some 540,000 pupils expected back in classrooms, many housed in tents and damaged buildings, as families struggle to afford basic school supplies
Hundreds of thousands of children 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... returned to in-person teaching on Saturday for the first time in nearly three years, albeit in damaged or makeshift school buildings and tents, and with uniforms, notebooks and pens unaffordable for many families.
The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says 98 percent of schools in Gaza were either destroyed or damaged during the war, and Gaza education officials say about 660,000 students have been deprived of in-person learning and regular participation in education.
The reopening is a fragile milestone for Gaza after a conflict that has killed around 22,000 students and more than 770 education workers, including 532 teachers, according to Ibrahim Ramadan, director of education for East Khan Younis.
"The last time I have been to school was three years ago. Now, we are starting the school year, it is year of joy, happiness and success," said Moayed Abu Mustafa in Khan Younis.
Mustafa said he was determined to learn even though he will sit on the floor in a tent lacking ventilation, he has no decent shoes, nor a notebook and pen, and lost friends during the war.
"Despite all of this we will learn, we will learn even in a tent."
Fifteen-year-old displaced student Samar Abu Salmi, who lives with her family in a tent, is also returning to class.
"We studied on phones and we haven’t seen our teachers... now, we are back pursuing our dream... from one tent to another," she said, speaking in the yard of her new makeshift school.
She also lacks much of the essential equipment, which has become unaffordable for her family.
"Before the war, everything was available for us — notebooks, pens, goods, clothes, outings, things that we could get cheaply," Salmi said.
What?? I thought before the war you lived in poverty and squalor in an open air prison. Not so? I guess that explains all the fat Gazans hanging out in the fancy mall and restaurants that persist even now.
MATTRESSES AND A BLACKBOARD
Despite the devastation in the enclave, the Ministry of Education, backed by international and local organizations, has moved ahead with the 2026-27 academic year, establishing dozens of temporary schools made of tents, tarpaulins, sheet metal and wood to accommodate pupils.
Some are built on sandy ground, others have classrooms with only some mattresses and a blackboard, into which students cram. Others are still housing dozens of displaced families.
Attending another school was 14-year-old Yamen Abu Samra.
"We used to wake up happy to go to school... Now, when we come to school, we’re afraid of stray bullets, rockets, strikes, everything," he said.
Tell Hamas to lay down their arms and surrender, as they were committed to do. Then the war will be over, and Hamas bullets and rockets will cease to fly.
"Now, I’m sitting in a tent that has absolutely nothing, just the sun and the heat," he added.
At least 540,000 students are expected to attend in-person classes this year in makeshift private schools, temporary learning centers and educational points, with UNICEF support, according to education officials. Online learning will continue for those who can’t attend classes or who left Gaza during the war.
No UNWRA though, right? And none of the hate-mongering textbooks UNWRA published, as well? Whose textbooks will be used instead?
Israeli forces remain in control of more than 60% of Gaza, well beyond the portion of the enclave that Israel was allowed to temporarily continue holding as part of an October 2025 ceasefire deal, which halted major fighting but failed to end the conflict.
The Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... -run health ministry says that more than 73,000 people have been killed in Israel’s Gaza offensive, launched after some 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Stationery trader Khaled Aliyan, 30, said Israeli import restrictions have reduced supplies and hiked prices.
"This notebook, which used to cost 3 shekels ($1), now costs 15 (shekels). All stationery items are expensive," he said.
Israel’s COGAT military agency, which controls access to Gaza, did not respond to a Rooters request for comment on restrictions on supplies and strikes on schools. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using schools for military purposes, which the terror group denies.
No doubt. But the attack put an end to that. It also put an end to Israel’s simultaneous negotiations with Saudi Arabia for them to join the Abraham Accords; as a result of the uproar, the Saudis walked away, and are now uninterested in more than continuing their two-decade long informal relationship. The attack was ordered and financed by Iran, with over a year of physical training; they would not have accepted a waste of their large investment. The attack was intended to happen a bit later, simultaneously with attacks from the West Bank, attacks and rockets from Hezbollah in Lebanon, rockets from the Houthis in Yemen, and ballistic missiles from Iran. The purpose of the negotiations was merely to keep the Israelis distracted until the attack went down, and it worked.
[IsraelTimes] Sufian Abu Zaida says talks sought hostage deal and relief for Gaza; vows to reveal message Sinwar asked him to convey to Israel weeks before attack in upcoming TV interview
Israel and Hamas had been nearing an agreement in talks that he was mediating before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks, former Palestinian Authority minister Sufian Abu Zaida said on Monday.
I’m sure that’s what it was supposed to look like.
The contacts focused on a potential deal for the release of two Israeli civilians and the bodies of two IDF soldiers held in Gaza.
Note that Israel gave them all up along with the 10/7 hostages, living and dead. So that’s ok.
In return, the sides had discussed Jerusalem releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, easing its blockade of Gaza, allowing more Palestinian workers to enter Israel and resolving the enclave’s electricity and water crises.
The Palestinian prisoners were released and the blockade has been eased after being tightened. The worker thing is a very dead letter, and God only knows what’s happening with electricity and water — I’ve lost track whether the power plant and water purification plant still exist or are repairable, but there is a lot of whining about the outcomes of Hamas’s stupid idea of going through with their commitment to attack on 10/7.
Seeking to distance the mediation effort from the October 7 onslaught, Abu Zaida said in a post on X that the negotiations had been intended to avert further deterioration in Gaza.
Hamas fooled you, too? How mortifying for you.
“We have no connection whatsoever to what happened on October 7, nor does it have anything to do with the role I played,” he wrote. “Everything I did was aimed at preventing Gaza from reaching the situation it is in today.”
Abu Zaida, a former PA prisoner affairs minister and member of a breakaway Fatah faction led by exiled Palestinian politician Mohammed Dahlan, revealed last week that he had served as an intermediary between Israel and Hamas for roughly a year and a half.
Really, you should be furious at how they took advantage of your goodwill.
According to a Haaretz report earlier this month, Abu Zaida mediated between Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, who had been appointed by then-Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, and Shin Bet officials, in talks held with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval.
Abu Zaida also said Monday that he would discuss a previously undisclosed exchange involving Sinwar in an interview with Egypt’s Alghad TV set to air later this week. According to Abu Zaida, roughly three weeks before the October 7 onslaught, Sinwar asked him to pass a message to Israel, to which Israel subsequently responded.
Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar has identified Abu Zaida as the intermediary who, according to his reporting, conveyed a warning from Sinwar in September 2023 that Hamas was preparing a “massive surprise” if the negotiations did not advance. Eldar reported that the warning ultimately reached both the Shin Bet and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, who later raised the matter with Netanyahu in an alleged 45-minute phone call.
It doesn’t matter. Even if the negotiations would have succeeded, the inv
Netanyahu has denied receiving any such warning from the Emirati president.
[Reuters] Iran can reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Iran's military central command said it was informed the US was preparing to restart military operations with the support of regional countries, and warned this would lead to Tehran's retaliation "without limitations and considerations".
"The US needs to announce that it wants to resolve the issue diplomatically, make that official, and then agree on a timeline for how the process will move forward", the senior Iranian official said, adding the Iranian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly is in New York and has full authority to revive diplomacy with the United States.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who left Tehran for New York on Tuesday morning, will not meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the UN headquarters in New York, the official told Reuters.
The Iranian official said details on an agreement to end hostilities with Washington can be discussed in New York via mediators, explaining that Tehran's proposal was delivered to the US via mediators on September 16.
"The UN General Assembly is a golden opportunity for the US to return to diplomacy", the official said, adding that Tehran would welcome a revival of diplomacy if Washington takes tangible steps.
No doubt they still remember fondly the pleasures of negotiating with President Obama’s people, but President Trump is a very different beast.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
09/22/2026 08:35 ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] In the next few days, Iranian airlines will be closed "worldwide" due to US sanctions, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced.
According to him, Iranian airlines will no longer be able to serve passengers starting September 23 because they will run out of fuel. Bessent also stated that the US will ban all countries from operating Iranian-owned passenger aircraft under threat of being cut off from the dollar system.
"On September 23rd, all Iranian airlines will cease operations worldwide. If they land, you won't be able to provide them with fuel, you won't be able to provide them with airport services, you won't be able to sell them tickets," Bessent explained on CNBC.
He added that otherwise those who violate this ban will be cut off from the dollar system.
On August 20, US President Donald Trump declared that the American administration was launching an unprecedented "economic war and isolation" against Iran. He noted that Tehran had been offered numerous opportunities to reach an agreement, but had failed to take them. The American leader emphasized that, in his view, no one had offered the Islamic Republic more opportunities to reach an agreement than he had. In response, Iran threatened retaliatory measures against neighboring countries if they joined US sanctions against Tehran.
Earlier, the White House chief stated that the US was open to the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Iran. Trump indicated that Washington had the option of imposing very tough sanctions.
The move aims to curtail carrier activity "supporting Iran's aviation sector,which the regime uses to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo," including "covert front companies, foreign intermediaries, and deceptive transshipment routes that Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... relies on to obtain U.S.-origin aircraft and sensitive technology."
A day after the sanctions sweep, Gholamhossein Darzi, the Ambassador and Chargé d'Affaires of Iran in a letter to the UN Security Council said the US sanctions against 27 Iranian airlines and entities active in Iran's civil aviation sector constitute an act of "economic terrorism, collective punishment, and crimes against humanity," and a "flagrant violation of the UN Charter and fundamental rules of international law," according to semi-official Mehr news agency.
In late August the US treasury moved to target five sectors, including aviation, digital assets, gold, technology and maritime restrictions, in addition to sanctions against the Dubai branch of the second largest bank in Egypt "that funneled more than $1.8 billion into the regime" in addition to two other banks, including Russia's state-controlled VTB Bank in mid-September and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... ’s Golden Global Bank in early September for funneling "millions" to Iran.
The pressure is increasingly visible through regional financial centers. Turkey on Friday revoked the operating license of the Istanbul branch of Iran’s Bank Mellat following a series of US measures aimed at restricting Tehran’s access to the international financial system.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Sunday denounced the "brutal economic war," accusing the US of "looking past sanctioning of an entire nation’s livelihood" in attempting to "stop Iranian officials from supposedly shopping at an American wholesale club."
Alongside the economic sanctions, US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... said on Sunday in an interview with Fox News that he was in a "deciding mode" over Iran, outlining options ranging from further military action and allowing Iran to "rot economically."
"My question is if and when do I blow the entire nation up? They better behave," Trump said, adding he was open to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is set to participate in the annual UN General Assembly, as he prepares to meet with Persian Gulf leaders on the sidelines of the Assembly on Tuesday.
But before we get to President Donald Trump's newest and latest and most magnificent troll, please let me take a moment to remind you of just how high he set the bar for himself.
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Tex.) told the story to Sage Steele on a video podcast way back in 2024.
"I want to leave Afghanistan," Trump is supposed to have said at a high-level meeting with the Taliban during his first administration. "But it's going to be a conditions-based withdrawal," unlike the rushed and bloody mess that Presidentish Joe Biden put us and the Afghans through in 2021. Hunt recalled Trump saying, "If you harm a hair on a single American, I'm going to kill you."
After the translator did his bit — and Hunt indicated that the translator was shocked by Trump's statement and hesitated before passing it along — Trump pulled a picture of the Taliban leader's home out of his pocket, handed it to him, and then left. While Hunt didn't say, there's no doubt in my mind that the photo was unmistakably taken by a Hellfire missile-carrying Reaper drone.
Statement. Made.
Flash forward to right now, when the United Nations holds its annual General Assembly High-level Week in New York City.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — another master of the international troll — "announced that starting Weds, any country providing fuel to any Iranian airlines will be heavily sanctioned," according to Tardio.
"For those of you wondering, that's the same day the Iranian President is scheduled to speak in NYC. GOOD LUCK making it home!"
I bow to the master.
Posted by: badanov ||
09/22/2026 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
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