No longer overtly Judenfrei, but how closely will the Mamdani civil rights commission look? Still, they’ll want to accept at least a few, so they can point to them when President Trump’s Justice Department starts poking around.
[IsraelTimes] Sunset Community Garden in Queens agrees to settle lawsuit with city, ending years-long, high-profile dispute, parks department says
A New York City public garden
…it’s the public piece that’s the kicker — government-supported organizations have to meet the standard of race, creed, colour, or whatever else has been added to the list recently…
that had barred members who believe in "Zionism" has agreed to allow Zionist members, the city’s parks department said on Thursday.
The Sunset Community Garden in Queens had attempted to block Zionist members in 2024, setting off a long-running dispute with city authorities and a court battle.
A spokesperson for the parks department told The Times of Israel on Thursday that the city and the garden had “resolved this case to both parties’ satisfaction, in a manner that safeguards the rights of all members of the community.”
“Garden members will not be required to be anti-Zionist,” the spokesperson said.
Legal reasons will be found to blackball them, one assumes, at least until Mayor Mamdani and his cronies are out of office.
Jewish neighborhood residents first raised complaints in 2024 about anti-Israel activism at the Sunset Community Garden.
The garden, located in a city-owned public space, had instituted “community agreements” that required prospective members to pledge support to “oppressed and marginalized people” worldwide, “especially Palestine.”
Another commitment required members to oppose “violent behavior or rhetoric that expresses all forms of hate,” including “Zionist, anti-Semitic, nationalist and/or racist beliefs.”
Membership in the garden allows area residents to participate in gardening activities, and not only visit.
The garden had also posted anti-Israel images online, branded a flower bed as “Poppies for Palestine,” and endorsed other progressive messaging.
Last year, the New York City Parks Department told the garden that the anti-Zionist statement violated city guidelines by requiring members to pass political and ideological “litmus tests,” and said the garden had refused solutions offered by the city to stay in operation.
Months later, the city issued the garden a vacate order, although members of the public had been allowed to enter the garden during certain hours, pending the court case’s resolution.
Former New York City mayor Eric Adams, a staunch supporter of Israel and mainstream Jews, weighed in at the time, telling The Times of Israel that the garden’s conduct was “reprehensible” because it had “specifically tried to bar those who believe in a State of Israel, which the overwhelming majority of Jews do.”
The garden filed a lawsuit against the city in federal court in New York, claiming a “targeted, discriminatory, and retaliatory campaign” against protected free speech.
Court records showed that the two sides had agreed to a settlement “in principle” last week.
Lawyers for the two parties did not respond to requests for comment.
The high-profile dispute highlighted how the blurred lines between antisemitism and anti-Zionism play out on New York City streets and in public spaces.
Some Jews argue that anti-Zionism overlaps with or causes, or constitutes antisemitism, while anti-Zionists claim the movement is purely political and not discriminatory.
[SudanTribune] U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the United States is pushing for a humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan to establish safe havens for aid distribution, while warning that the conflict has devolved into a proxy war.
Speaking during a press conference in Italy following a meeting with Pope Leo XIV and Italian officials, Rubio described the situation in Sudan as “one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises ever.”
The Secretary of State noted that while the warring parties recently reached a “statement of principles,” international mediators must now translate those words into action on the ground.
“What we’ve really been focused on in Sudan is sort of establishing a humanitarian ceasefire that allows us to provide aid to people that are suffering tremendously there, but not doing so at the expense of a broader deal,” Rubio said.
[IsraelTimes] According to New York Times, shipments could help Tehran quickly restock its drone arsenal amid ceasefire, while evading both sanctions and tense routes through Persian Gulf
Russia is sending drone components to Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... via Caspian Sea shipping, US officials told the New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... in a report published Saturday, turning the world’s largest lake into a key conduit for both covert and overt trade.
According to the sources, who spoke to the American outlet on condition of anonymity, the long-overlooked trade corridor is helping Iran rebuild its military capabilities in the wake of the US-Israeli bombing campaign that ended last month in a tenuous ceasefire.
If shipments from Russia continue at their current pace, Iran could quickly restock its drone arsenal, US officials said, some 60 percent of which was lost during the recent war.
The Caspian Sea acts as a bridge, connecting the two countries which do not share a border but both have long coastlines on the massive inland sea. It allows Russia and Iran to trade openly, without fear of interdiction by US or other countries for evading sanctions, the New York Times reported.
According to the news outlet, Russia is sending goods that would normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded for weeks now by both the US and Iran. Goods transiting the Caspian Sea include grains, animal feed, sunflower oil and other staple products.
The Caspian is the world’s largest inland body of water and its southern coastline stretches more than 430 miles (700 kilometers) in northern Iran.
The shipping route is believed to be one of the main lines used by Russia and Iran to evade sanctions. The sanctioned Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines reportedly regularly operates out of Bandar Anzali, not far from where the Iranian Navy is located.
"If you’re thinking about the ideal place for sanction evasion and military transfers, it’s the Caspian," expert Nicole Grajewski, a professor at Gay Paree’ Sciences Po, told the newspaper.
In mid-March, during the height of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the IDF struck a number of Iranian Navy vessels and naval infrastructure at the Iranian port city of Bandar Anzali and in the Caspian Sea.
According to the IDF, the strikes destroyed an Iranian Navy corvette, four missile boats, and several auxiliary ships and guard boats, along with a command center and a shipyard.
Those strikes were meant to disrupt transfers between Russia and Iran, according to reports in both the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times at the time.
Russia is a close ally of Iran, but has denied having sent military aid to its partner since the US and Israeli strikes began in February.
Drone warfare has been a key component of Iranian attacks on Israel and several Gulf countries, as well as the ongoing attacks on Israel by the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... According to the Wall Street Journal, Moscow is providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Tehran’s targeting of US forces in the region, as well as supplying Iran with parts to modify Shahed drones, providing them with improved communications, navigation, and targeting capabilities.
Israel has not acknowledged the expected impact on Russia of its Caspian Sea strikes in March, likely a deliberate choice, given the careful line Jerusalem treads with Moscow.
The government has its priorities precisely backward: more guards for Jewish sites and activities, further restricting gun ownership, more intelligence sharing. But not restricting the Moslem colonists who are such a large part of the problem — both in terms of mass terror attacks like at Bondi Beach and in creating an atmosphere of hate-filled violence against Jews and native Australians going back since the 1990s — and not arresting the Antifa/Black Bloc “activists” who have been having such fun marching, shouting and harassing Jews in red/green alliance with Hamas following the invasion of Israel on 10/7/2023.
[IsraelTimes] Royal commission launched after Bondi massacre hears accounts of harassment, threats and fear as Jewish community fears unprecedented post-Oct. 7 surge in hate could be here to stay
Josh Gomperts became a paramedic because he wanted to help people in distress. But after years of volunteering with Hatzolah, Melbourne’s Jewish volunteer ambulance service, the 31-year-old found himself testifying before Australia’s royal commission into antisemitism about the abuse he endured while serving the public.
Gomperts told the commission about the time a 90-year-old patient performed a Nazi salute at him after noticing his kippa, and about a regional Australian music festival where, while he was volunteering as a paramedic, a volunteer firefighter threatened to skin him alive after realizing he was Jewish.
His testimony is among dozens now being heard by Australia’s royal commission into antisemitism, established by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre in Sydney, in which 15 people were slaughtered by gun-wielding Death Eaters while gathering to celebrate the holiday.
A royal commission is Australia’s highest form of public inquiry, with sweeping powers to compel witnesses and documents. Its findings often shape Australian law and policy.
The hearings have become a rare public forum for Australian Jews to describe how antisemitism has reshaped life in the aftermath of the bloody October 7, 2023, Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... invasion of Israel and the subsequent war against the terror group 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... Two weeks of public hearings are now underway, with Jewish Australians and other witnesses giving evidence before the commission. Further blocks of hearings are expected later this year, and the commission is due to hand down its final report by December 11, just before the first anniversary of the attack.
Gomperts, who testified online from his Melbourne home, told The Times of Israel, "I came forward with my story because I don’t want to sit idly by if change is possible."
At the same time, he remains uncertain whether the commission’s recommendations will be enough to stem the surge of antisemitism that Australian Jews have been experiencing.
"I’d love to see a more unified Australia where we all live in peace and don’t feel like we are harassed. But I’m also not sure I see a future for Jews in this country at the moment," Gomperts said.
Sheina Gutnick, whose father Reuven Morrison was murdered at the Bondi Hanukkah gathering, was the first witness to testify before the royal commission. After the prime minister initially rejected calls to establish a royal commission, Gutnick helped lead a weeks-long public pressure campaign urging the government to reconsider.
JEW-HATRED FOLLOWS HAMAS OCT. 7 ONSLAUGHT
The inquiry heard from witnesses about the impact on the Jewish community of antisemitic chants during a protest against the war in Gaza outside Sydney’s Opera House in October 2023, shortly after the Hamas massacre in Israel.
That was a red/green alliance project, but the authorities were uninterested in looking into the complaints of hypersensitive Jews.
Jewish community groups recorded 2,062 antisemitic incidents in 2024 alone. However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting brought the issue of Jew hatred firmly into public consciousness. Sajid Akram and son Naveed are accused of opening fire as Jewish families thronged Bondi Beach for a Hanukkah celebration in December, carrying out Australia’s deadliest mass shooting for 30 years.
The royal commission is not expected to hear detailed evidence from many Bondi survivors or relatives of those killed who were present on the night of the attack, due to the pending criminal proceedings against Naveed Akram, one of the two Bondi shooters.
Overseen by retired Australian High Court judge Virginia Bell, the commission handed down an interim report last week outlining 14 recommendations, including stronger security protections at high-risk Jewish events and a nationally consistent firearms agreement, alongside a proposed gun buyback scheme. Five recommendations were withheld from the public report on national security grounds.
The report also raised serious concerns about failures in intelligence sharing and counterterror coordination in the lead-up to the Bondi attack, while acknowledging that Australian authorities could not have prevented the massacre.
Had they not been in Australia they could not have shot up the holiday party on Bondi Beach.
"The sharp spike of antisemitism that we have witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries and seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East," inquiry chief Bell said in opening remarks.
That’s the excuse, anyway, for vile people who have decided they get to act on the ugly ideas that bubble up from the cesspits of their minds instead of just daydreaming .
"It’s important that people understand how quickly those events can prompt ugly displays of hostility towards Jewish Australians simply because they are Jews."
THOUSANDS VOLUNTEER TO TESTIFY ON ANTISEMITIC EVENTS
Those appearing before the commission first submitted written accounts of their experiences and were later contacted to provide further testimony if they indicated they were open to doing so. To date, more than 5,000 submissions have been received, detailing lived experiences of antisemitism, including more than 1,000 from non-Jewish Australians.
[CNBC] The U.S.-Iran war had created a "new wake-up call" for global trade, Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc told CNBC on Thursday, warning that the impact could worsen in the coming months.
Speaking to CNBC’s "Squawk Box Europe" after Maersk posted its first-quarter earnings, Clerc said the group is facing intense cost pressures that would have to be passed on to customers.
Shares of Maersk were last seen trading around 7.2% lower, paring earlier losses. Clerc was speaking to CNBC after Maersk reported a sharp decline in profitability and made no changes to its guidance, but warned of the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
"We are highly energy intensive industry, and that has created a whole new set of circumstances that we now have to deal with," he said. "That will have an important impact on the second and third quarter."
Oil costs surged as the war in the Middle East intensified, with ongoing uncertainty around the closure of the Strait of Hormuz keeping prices elevated. The spike in oil prices has also fueled concerns that inflation will be pushed higher in many economies.
Michigan Democratic Party dumps Jewish Zionist U of M regent for Hezbollah supporter
[JewishInsider]The weekend ended with the news that Michigan Democratic delegates, at their statewide convention Sunday, nominated a Hezbollah supporter, Amir Makled, to the University of Michigan Board of Regents, choosing to oust a Jewish member, Jordan Acker, whose home and car were repeatedly vandalized with antisemitic graffiti and his family threatened.
Acker’s offenses? He backed efforts to hold anti-Israel campus protesters at the University of Michigan accountable for assaulting police and engaging in intimidation of Jewish students, among other instances of student misconduct. He declined to support efforts to divest university funds from Israel, along with other members of the Board of Regents, as a radical faction of students had demanded.
Acker’s non-Jewish Democratic ticketmate, Paul Brown, who also supported discipline against anti-Israel students, wasn’t targeted and was renominated for election. But the Democratic delegates ousted Acker in exchange for Makled, who has posted on social media with comments praising Hezbollah’s leaders and retweeted antisemitic messages from the conspiracy-theorizing influencer Candace Owens.
The results mark a new low for Michigan Democrats. Also over the weekend, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told CNN that he believes the Israeli government is just as evil as Hamas.
The school board president in a heavily Jewish suburb of New York City is facing calls to resign after flyers promoting a student-led Israeli culture club event were torn down and later found in a boys’ bathroom urinal last week.
The flyers advertised an “IsraelFest” event to celebrate Israel’s 78th Independence Day this week at Scarsdale High School. Among those posting photographs of the vandalism was the daughter of the board president, James Dugan. She added a caption: “Keep up the good work.”
ED is investigating the New York City Department of Education (NYDOE) over reported violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI). This included seminars framing the Palestinian jihad against Israel as “resistance” to evil “Zionism.” These same pernicious pedagogues are also teaching young people that Zionists are “genocidal white supremacists,” and that Hamas terrorists who died while murdering and raping Israelis in the most horrific manner imaginable are “martyrs.” The surge in violent antisemitism in America is a product of our school system.
ED’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is investigating the NYDOE, according to an April 23 press release. If true — and there’s every reason to fear the worst, given NYC voted in a radically pro-jihad, anti-Israel mayor — the allegations are extremely serious. NYDOE is literally teaching young people to admire the most bestial butchers, while hating Jews just because of their religion and ethnicity.
The ED press release stated:
Many reports received by OCR indicate that a group of NYCDOE employees organized a series of teaching seminars focused on “Palestine, Zionism, and Resistance.” The so-called “NYC Educators for Palestine” allegedly teach children as young as five about “contemporary and historical Palestinian resistance,” that Zionists are “genocidal white supremacists,” and to support the federally designated terrorist organization Hamas and its “martyrs” (i.e. dead terrorists). Complaints received by OCR allege that these actions in NYCDOE teach and sow hostility and hatred towards Jewish students, potentially creating a hostile environment.
The New School student government is suspending student funding for the campus Hillel chapter.
They cite programs sending students to support the IDF, including units that killed a 78-year-old American, and killed 15 Palestinian emergency workers & buried them in a mass grave. pic.twitter.com/nsyyOL7tiZ
Peterson, a history and African-American studies professor who is finishing a stint as faculty chair, had structured his commencement speech around pioneers in university history.
“Sing for Moritz Levi, the first Jewish professor at the University of Michigan. Appointed professor of French in 1896, he was to open the doors of this great university to generations of Jewish students who found in Ann Arbor a safe haven from the antisemitism of East Coast universities,” Peterson told the crowd at Michigan’s football field, to applause.
Shortly after, Peterson added, “Sing for the pro-Palestinian student activists who have, over these past two years, opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza.” Those remarks also received loud applause.
Michigan, like many campuses, has witnessed extensive pro-Palestinian encampments and other forms of student protest in recent years. Protesters have also cut down peonies at the university arboretum and vandalized the home of a Jewish university regent.
Recently, the attorney who defended the university’s encampment participants from some state-level charges, Amir Makled, received the Democratic Party’s nomination for a seat on the university’s board of regents.
And so the graduates will not learn things they desperately need to hear, but instead will be encouraged in their blind hatred and bullying by cowardly law school leadership.
The speaker switchup comes amid a string of commencement dustups related to Israel and the war in Gaza. Also on Wednesday, Rutgers University rescinded its commencement speaker invitation to alumnus Rami Elghandour, a producer of “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” the Oscar-nominated docudrama about the Red Crescent response to the killing of Hind Rajab in Gaza in 2024, citing a tweet about Israel that it said did not comport with the school’s values. The president of the University of Michigan, meanwhile, also apologized after faculty senate chair Derek Peterson praised pro-Palestinian student protesters in his address Saturday.
"New York City Public Schools is committed to providing a world-class education for all our students," spokesperson for NYC Public Schools, Isla Gething, told Fox News Digital.
"Enrollment can shift for many reasons, and these are trends we monitor closely. Our focus remains on delivering strong academic programs and safe learning environments in every classroom. We continue to engage the whole school community as we plan for the future of our schools with a long term focus on stability, equity, and providing an excellent education regardless of enrollment fluctuations."
#2
Fewer students to be exploited by New York City’s formerly outstanding, but now barely mediocre, unionized teacher-centered education? Excellent. May they lose even more students as the population continues relocating to points south and west.
SCOOP: CAIR-CA leader Zahra Billoo advises her followers that they can express hatred against Jews in private, but should not write "I hate all Zionists" on their social media profiles, in order to be "strategic."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/10/2026 00:00 ||
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[1834 views]
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#1
CAIR is proposing an insidious strategy that requires intellect and personal restrain. 99% of people that are influenced by CAIR have no ability to follow those instructions.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/10/2026 8:56 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Being strategic is good. I suggest tattooing a Star of David on your forehead as a disguise. No one will ever suspect. At least until you open your mouth.
[Rudaw] The Iraqi oil ministry on Friday denied US allegations that a deputy oil minister was using his position to divert Iraqi oil products in order to benefit Iran-affiliated oil entities, in violation of US sanctions.
The remarks come a day after the US Department of the Treasury had imposed sanctions on Ali Maarij al-Bahadly, along with three senior commanders of Iran-aligned gangs, accusing them of "exploiting Iraq’s oil sector and undermining the country’s security."
The ministry denied in a statement the allegations against the Undersecretary for Distribution Affairs, Bahadly, noting that "the processes of crude oil export, marketing, and loading of tankers, as well as related procedures" are not among his duties, but are instead "handled by the relevant authorities and companies according to approved frameworks and mechanisms."
The state-owned Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) had "previously issued a statement clarifying the mechanisms of export and marketing and denying the aforementioned issue," referring to allegations of Bahadly’s abuse of power to benefit Iran, the statement added.
The ministry also stressed "the importance of adopting transparency and responsibility in dealing with all cases and allegations," declaring "its full readiness to cooperate and conduct any fair investigation," in line with its "belief in the role of the judiciary and the [Federal] Commission of Integrity, and its respect for the state’s oversight and legal institutions."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury said on Thursday that it was increasing "economic pressure on Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and its proxy militias in Iraq by designating individuals and businesses exploiting Iraq’s oil sector and undermining the country’s security."
The sanctions included Bahadly, whom the Treasury accused of "abus[ing] his position to facilitate the diversion of oil to be sold for the benefit of the Iranian regime and its proxy militias in Iraq," including by "facilitating the diversion of Iraqi oil products to benefit known Iran-affiliated oil smuggler Salim Ahmed Said, as well as Iran-backed terrorist militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq."
The Treasury also sanctioned Mustafa Hashim Lazim al-Behadili, described as a "leader and economic official" for Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, who "materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of" the group, and who "owns or controls four Iraqi companies operating in the oil sector."
In addition, Ahmed Khudair Maksus and Mohammed Issa Kadhim al-Shuwaili were sanctioned as senior commanders of the Kata’ib Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... al-Shuhada Iraqi gang, accused of "collaborating directly" with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... "on the purchase and delivery of weapons into Iraq."
According to the Treasury, the designations are part of the Economic Fury campaign targeting the Iranian government.
The US launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, a joint aerial campaign with Israel against Iran, striking more than 17,000 sites over six weeks before a Pakistain-mediated ceasefire was agreed on April 8.
The US in mid-April launched the high-intensity Economic Fury campaign as the financial counterpart to Operation Epic Fury against Iran, aiming to isolate Tehran from the global financial system and cut off its remaining revenue streams.
[Rudaw] A new supergiant oilfield has been discovered in Iraq’s southern Najaf province near the border with 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... , Baghdad’s oil ministry reported on Wednesday, noting that one of its blocks is estimated to contain more than 8.8 billion barrels of reserves.
"The al-Qarnain block is the first exploration block in which an oil discovery has been recorded," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it is "located in southwestern Iraq within the administrative boundaries of Najaf province along the Iraq-Saudi border and is considered a promising exploration area covering 8,773 square kilometers."
The ministry further explained that drilling of the exploratory well Shams-11 in the al-Qarnain block indicated "estimated reserves of 8.8351 billion barrels of oil... with a daily production rate of 3,248 barrels of light crude oil."
The announcement came during a high-level meeting between Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani and a delegation from China’s state-owned company ZhenHua Oil, where they reviewed the company’s progress in increasing production and applying advanced drilling techniques at the al-Qarnain site.
ZhenHua, through its subsidiary Qurnain Petroleum Limited (QN), recently assumed the role of lead operator to carry out exploratory drilling and seismic surveys in al-Qarnain, culminating in the major discovery at the Shams-11 well.
Following the latest discovery, the Chinese company has proposed a "fast-track" investment strategy aimed at rapidly advancing the block from the exploration phase to full-scale commercial production, according to the oil ministry statement.
Iraq is accelerating a multi-billion dollar oil pipeline project with a capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) and a stretching from the southernmost province of Basra to the western province of Anbar near the Syrian border, the federal oil ministry said on Friday.
The discovery comes at a critical time for Iraq, as Baghdad’s oil exports have plunged by 80 percent due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States and Israel launched a large-scale aerial campaign against 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... in late February, striking more than 17,000 sites over six weeks of hostilities. In response, Iran carried out thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets - particularly in Gulf Arab states - as well as launching retaliatory attacks against Israel.
The warring sides later agreed to a Pakistain-mediated ceasefire on April 8, halting fighting to allow space for talks. While the first round of discussions concluded without a final agreement on April 11, a second round has yet to take place, as the war has yet to fully conclude.
In parallel with the talks, the US and Iran have engaged in reciprocal maritime restrictions. Washington has, since April 13, enforced a naval blockade on Iranian ports, while Tehran has tightened controls on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz which handles over 25 percent of global seaborne oil trade and around 20 percent of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments.
For Iraq, prior to the six-week war, production stood at around 4.5 million barrels per day, with roughly 3.5 million barrels exported daily. Nearly 90 percent of those exports passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... exports fell to 18.6 million barrels in March, generating about $1.96 billion in revenue, compared with more than 99 million barrels and $6.81 billion in February, according to official figures from the oil ministry.
[Rudaw] A Yazidi survivor has reunited with her family after a 12-year separation, following her abduction by 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) bully boyz at the age of seven from the Yazidi community’s heartland of Shingal (Sinjar) in northern Iraq in 2014.
Meeting her family for the first time in over a decade, Jamila Bapir told Rudaw, "I am deeply grateful for this warm welcome, thank God," speaking notably in Arabic rather than her native Kurdish.
She was rescued by the Office for Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
"After working on her case for several days, we transferred the survivor back to her relatives in Shingal," Hussein Qaidi, head of the office, told Rudaw.
Rudaw learned that she was rescued from Syria, though Kurdish authorities declined to disclose her exact location during captivity, citing security concerns and ongoing efforts to rescue other abductees.
Five of Jamila’s immediate family members, including her mother and four siblings, had also been freed from ISIS captivity and are now living abroad. Her father, however, remains missing.
Her relative, Khawla Saido, said the family had long hoped for her return. "We are overjoyed to have her back - words can’t fully express our happiness. We have been waiting for this moment for 12 years."
Following its advance into northern and western Iraq in 2014, ISIS seized control of nearly one-third of the country’s territory and launched a brutal campaign against the Yazidi community in Shingal.
The group kidnapped 6,417 Yazidi women and kiddies, many of whom were subjected to sexual slavery and forced labor. At least 5,000 Yazidi men and elderly women were killed.
The United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... has recognized the attack on the Yazidis as an act of genocide.
According to Qaidi, as of May, 3,595 kidnapped Yazidis have been rescued, while around 2,500 remain missing.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/10/2026 2026-05-10 02:49 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Despite local volatility, residents brace for speedy growth and bolstered infrastructure as part of recently approved 5-year plan allocating NIS 1 billion to develop area by 2030
[IsraelTimes] Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has replaced several government officials and ministers on Saturday, including his own brother, in a partial government overhaul, state media reports.
The new appointments, announced by Syria’s official SANA news agency, include former Homs governor Abdul Rahman Badreddine al-Aama replacing Sharaa’s brother Maher as secretary-general for the Syrian presidency.
Information Minister Hamza Almustafa and Agriculture Minister Amjad Badr are replaced by Khaled Fawaz Zaarour and Bassel Hafez al-Sweidan, respectively.
The reasons behind the overhaul are unclear.
The Syrian “transitional cabinet” created in March 2025 came after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... in 2024, and was dominated by Sharaa’s inner circle.
Sharaa also appointed new governors for several provinces including Homs, Quneitra and Latakia and Deir Ezzor, SANA says.
Displaced families from Afrin to begin returning home on Saturday: Hasaka governor
[Rudaw] Around 1,200 displaced families from the predominantly Kurdish city of Afrin in northwestern Syria are set to return to their homes on Saturday, according to the governor of Hasaka, who said preparations for the process have been completed as authorities push toward ending displacement and political detentions in northeast Syria (Rojava).
“Our goal is for no displaced person and no political prisoner to remain,” Hasaka Governor Nour al-Din Ahmed told Rudaw, adding that officials are working toward reaching a “zero displacement” stage “where no family remains in a state of displacement.”
Families in Afrin have faced repeated waves of displacement since first fleeing in 2018 during a Turkish-backed offensive.
They were forced to flee again in 2024 in the wake of the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and once more this year following renewed clashes between the interim authorities and Kurdish forces in northern Syria and Rojava, which came to an end following a landmark January deal.
In mid-January, the Syrian Arab Army and affiliated armed groups launched a major offensive into areas held by the SDF. The operation led to the gradual withdrawal of Kurdish-led forces from territories in eastern Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, as well as the Kurdish-majority Hasaka province.
After weeks of fighting, an internationally brokered agreement between the SDF and Damascus was signed in late January. One of the key clauses of the deal was the return of displaced persons, including those to Afrin.
Ahmed stressed that authorities are seeking to eliminate politically motivated detentions.
“Another of our primary goals is to have zero political prisoners or detainees of opinion,” he said, adding that efforts are underway to ensure complete security and stability.
According to the governor, once the return process is stabilized, authorities will shift focus toward improving services for residents across the region.
Syrian government releases 232 SDF fighters in latest prisoner exchange
Rudaw
[Rudaw] The Syrian government on Friday released 232 fighters affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as part of an ongoing prisoner exchange agreement between Damascus and the autonomous administration, reuniting hundreds of families across northeast Syria (Rojava).
The freed detainees, who had spent months in Syrian government prisons, arrived in the northeastern city of Hasaka in convoys of vehicles, where emotional crowds gathered to welcome them home.
The exchange stems from a landmark January 29 agreement between the SDF and Damascus, brokered with significant mediation by the United States through Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack, alongside Kurdish political figures from the Kurdistan Region.
The deal came after tensions escalated sharply in mid-January, when Syrian government forces and allied armed groups captured areas previously controlled by the SDF in eastern Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Hasaka provinces.
Under the January agreement, both sides committed to a permanent ceasefire and to integrating civil and military institutions in Rojava into the Syrian state. The accord also outlined a phased prisoner exchange and broader integration measures, including the formation of three SDF brigades within the Syrian army.
Of the roughly 1,070 SDF-linked detainees previously held by Damascus, around 800 have now been released, according to officials.
“The remaining detainees will also be released soon,” Hasaka governor Nour al-Din Ahmed said. “However, the process has not yet been completed and no date has been set.”
Former detainee Raman Mihyedin said prisoners endured harsh conditions during their captivity.
“We knew the Kurds would not abandon us,” Mihyedin told Rudaw. Asked about their treatment in prison, he added: “Their treatment of us was not good.”
Neither the Syrian government nor the SDF has disclosed how many prisoners remain in custody.
[IsraelTimes] Iran approved the passage of Qatari LNG tanker Al Kharaitiyat through the Strait of Hormuz, sources tell Reuters, after shipping data showed the tanker sailing toward the blockaded waterway earlier today.
A successful passage would mark the first transit by a Qatari LNG tanker through the strait since the start of the Iran war.
The gas is being sold by Qatar to Pakistan – a mediator in the war – under a government-to-government deal, according to two people familiar with the matter. They say Iran had approved the shipment to help build confidence with Qatar and Pakistan.
Pakistan has been in discussions with Iran to allow a limited number of LNG tankers to pass through the strait, as Islamabad urgently needs to address its gas shortage, a source briefed on the agreement tells Reuters.
Iran agreed to assist, and the two sides are coordinating the first vessel’s safe passage carrying gas supplied under Pakistan’s agreement with Qatar, its main LNG supplier, the source adds.
Qatar-owned LNG Carrier "Al Kharaitiyat" approaching the Strait of Hormuz, could be the first non-Iranian linked Tanker allowed to pass in days, if it doesn't stop before.
[IsraelTimes] US intelligence agencies believe Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is playing a key role in crafting Iran’s war strategy together with other senior officials, CNN reports, citing several officials familiar with the intelligence.
The sources say the US has been unable to visually determine Khamenei’s whereabouts since the strike that killed his father also wounded him. He has not been seen publicly since, with the sources adding that he remains in isolation while receiving treatment for bad burn wounds to his face, arm, torso and one of his legs.
[IsraelTimes] The US Treasury announces sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including several in China and Hong Kong, for aiding efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons and raw materials used to build Tehran’s Shahed drones.
The Treasury move, first reported by Reuters, comes days before US President Donald Trump plans to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping and as efforts to end the war with Iran have stalled.
In a statement, Treasury says it remains ready to take economic action against Iran’s military industrial base so Tehran cannot reconstitute its production capacity and project power outside its borders.
Treasury says it’s also prepared to act against any foreign company supporting illicit Iranian commerce, including airlines, and could impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that aid Iran’s efforts, including those connected to China’s independent “teapot” oil refineries.
“Under President Trump’s decisive leadership, we will continue to act to Keep America Safe and target foreign individuals and companies providing Iran’s military with weapons for use against US forces,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says in a statement.
[IsraelTimes] Tehran claims it has ‘suspicions about motivation and seriousness’ of Washington as Pakistan insists diplomacy is ongoing; UK sends warship to Hormuz ahead of potential naval mission
A state of relative calm prevailed around the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, after days of sporadic flareups, as the United States waited for Iran’s response to its latest proposals to end more than two months of fighting and begin peace talks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... said on Friday that Washington expected a response within hours and President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... later said it would likely be submitted "tonight." But a day later, there was no sign of movement from 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... on the proposal, which would formally end the war before talks on more contentious issues, including the Iranian nuclear program.
A news hound for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said Saturday that Trump told her in a brief interview he still expected to find out Iran’s answer "very soon."
With Trump due to begin a long-awaited visit to China next week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the conflict, which has thrown energy markets into turmoil and posed a growing threat to the world economy.
Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the Strait of Hormuz since a ceasefire began a month ago, and the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack on Friday.
As Tehran kept Washington waiting for its response after saying Friday it was not paying attention to "deadlines," the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called into question the reliability of the US leadership in a call with his Ottoman Turkish counterpart.
"The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy," he said, according to an Iranian account of the call published by the ISNA news agency.
Nevertheless, Pak Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said diplomacy was continuing, with his country in contact with the US and Iran "day and night" in an effort to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace deal.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Saturday that it, as well as 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... , was calling for diplomatic efforts to reach a "sustainable, long-term agreement" to end the war.
QATARI MEDIATION
Egyptian and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i top diplomats reiterated that diplomacy is the sole path to a solution, according to a readout of a Saturday phone call between the foreign ministers of Egypt and Qatar, as a report said Doha has emerged as a key player in mediating between the United States and Iran after Trump pressured the Qatari emir to help broker negotiations.
A day after meeting with US Vice President JD Vance at the White House, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met Saturday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami, a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.
While quietly operating as a go-between, Qatar has been allowing Pakistain to play the main mediating role, the source said, confirming reporting on the Axios news site.
While the Trump administration had wanted Qatar to serve as the main conduit, finding its services useful during the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war and other global conflicts, Doha has been hesitant to take on a more prominent role in the Iran talks, believing it would be blamed if they collapsed or accused of bias toward Iran by pro-Israel hawks if the negotiations bear fruit, the source said.
Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets.
The US has imposed its own blockade of Iran’s ports. US Central Command on Saturday said its forces had turned back 58 fat merchantmen and "disabled" four since the blockade began April 13.
UK DISPATCHES WARSHIP TOWARD HORMUZ
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, announced Saturday it was sending a destroyer to the Middle East ahead of any international mission to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international sea lane that Iran is seeking to control to extract tolls from foreign vessels and wield economic leverage over the US and its allies.
"The pre-positioning of HMS Dragon is part of prudent planning that will ensure that the UK is ready, as part of a multinational coalition jointly led by the UK and La Belle France, to secure the strait, when conditions allow," a British defense ministry spokesperson told AFP.
Britannia and La Belle France said last month that military plans to secure Hormuz were coming together and would succeed in restoring trade flows through the vital passage, though they stressed the mission to reestablish freedom of navigation in the strait won’t start until there is a sustainable ceasefire and the maritime industry is reassured ships can go through safely.
[IsraelTimes] Rights groups, relatives warn Tehran intensifying persecution of group amid regional tensions; Amnesty says regime falsely accusing Baha’is as spies for Israel
The sect, a heretical offshoot of Islam, has been officially headquartered in Haifa since 1908, but the center of the faith has been in Acre in the Ottoman province of Syria since the Baháʼu'lláh was imprisoned there in 1868 as a favour to the shah of Persia, who had banished him 15 years earlier.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/10/2026 00:00 ||
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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.
[IsraelTimes] Sunset Community Garden in Queens agrees to settle lawsuit with city, ending years-long, high-profile dispute, parks department says
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
[IsraelTimes] Royal commission launched after Bondi massacre hears accounts of harassment, threats and fear as Jewish community fears unprecedented post-Oct. 7 surge in hate could be here to stay
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
[CNBC] The U.S.-Iran war had created a "new wake-up call" for global trade, 
...Arabic term meaning 
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
The United States and Israel launched a large-scale aerial campaign against 
...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 
Following its advance into northern and western Iraq in 2014, ISIS seized control of nearly one-third of the country’s territory and launched a brutal campaign against the Yazidi community in Shingal.
Leveler of Latakia...
...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...
