[Breitbart] The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has rolled out a nationwide hotline for reporting criminal activity in federally funded housing, reinforcing an ongoing federal crackdown on violence, fraud, and unlawful residency in taxpayer-supported communities.
On Monday, November 24, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner unveiled a national crime tip hotline designed to enhance public safety in HUD-funded housing developments. The initiative is intended to combat criminal activity such as gang operations, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and occupancy by ineligible individuals, including sex offenders and those residing in the United States unlawfully.
The hotline — 1-800-347-3735 — will provide a direct channel for residents to report threats and illegal behavior in real time. HUD officials confirmed that online submissions will also be accepted at HUDOIG.gov/hotline. The department emphasized that initial enforcement will concentrate on properties in Memphis and Washington, DC, where federal law enforcement task forces have already recorded thousands of arrests and weapons seizures under initiatives ordered by President Donald Trump this year.
The announcement follows a series of housing reforms carried out by HUD throughout 2025 under Turner’s leadership to ensure American citizens are prioritized in housing policy. These efforts include a Memorandum of Understanding with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, titled “American Housing Programs for American Citizens,” which blocks the allocation of housing funds to illegal aliens. HUD has also revised Federal Housing Administration loan eligibility, requiring proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful status and cutting off access to non-permanent residents, including those with DACA status.
Backed by Trump’s Executive Order “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” HUD has instructed over 3,000 Public Housing Authorities to provide verified data on tenants’ legal status. Non-compliant authorities face funding evaluations and potential enforcement actions. HUD has clarified that its programs, including Section 8 vouchers and FHA-backed mortgages, are designated for U.S. citizens and eligible lawful residents only.
The new hotline supports the Memphis Safe Task Force, launched by President Trump in September. Since October, that task force has arrested 3,151 violent fugitives — including 12 on homicide charges — and seized over 500 illegal firearms. These operations, involving 13 agencies including the FBI and U.S. Marshals, have targeted high-crime areas and removed known gang members and sex offenders from public housing environments.
In a 72-hour period this fall, 93 illegal alien criminals were apprehended, including a gang-affiliated terrorist and a suspect wanted for child rape. Local leaders and federal agencies have characterized the crackdown as a turning point in public safety for one of America’s historically highest-crime cities.
[IsraelTimes] Egyptian media says Egyptian and Turkish intelligence chiefs met Qatari PM to address ‘overcoming obstacles and limiting violations to ensure the ceasefire holds’
Delegations from Egypt, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... , which along with the United States make up the mediators of the current ceasefire in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip, met on Tuesday in Cairo to discuss the second phase of the deal, Egyptian state-linked media reported.
Al-Qahera News, which has ties to Egyptian intelligence, said the meeting included the Egyptian and Ottoman Turkish intelligence chiefs alongside the prime minister of Qatar.
The delegates discussed working with the US "to ensure the successful implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement" between Israel and Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... , the channel reported.
Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US act as both mediators and guarantors for the Gaza deal, which came into effect on October 10 after two years of war sparked by the Hamas-led mass terror onslaught of October 7, 2023.
According to al-Qahera News, Tuesday’s meeting addressed "overcoming obstacles and limiting violations to ensure the ceasefire holds."
The mediators on Tuesday also "agreed to continue strengthening coordination and cooperation with the Civil-Military Coordination Center" — the truce monitoring center set up by the US and its allies in southern Israel.
Their meeting in Cairo came two days after a senior Hamas delegation met with Egyptian spy chief Hassan Rashad to discuss the second phase of the truce and a recent escalation of hostilities in the Strip, as both Israel and the Paleostinian terror group continued to trade accusations of ceasefire violations.
Hamas said big shots Muhammad Darwish, Khaled Mashaal, Khalil al-Hayya, Nizar Awdallah, Zaher Jabarin and Ghazi Hamed met on Sunday with Rashad.
They discussed "ways to urgently address, via mediators’ efforts with the various parties," and the issue of dozens of Hamas operatives holed up underground in Israeli-controlled Rafah, Hamas said in a statement. It added that contact with the operatives had been lost.
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[IsraelTimes] Shipping company Maersk will take steps to resume navigation through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal as soon as conditions allow, CEO Vincent Clerc says.
Maersk began diverting vessels away from the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea toward the southern tip of Africa in January 2024 after an attack on one of its ships by Yemen’s Houthis, who said they were attacking ships in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The company has been encouraged by the peace process in Gaza, which would establish freedom of navigation in the Bab al-Mandab strait that links the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Clerc added in a joint press conference with Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie in Egypt.
“Given the significant progress in both Gaza and Bab al-Mandab, Maersk will take steps to resume navigation around the East West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, and normalize transit over time,” Clerc says.
Maersk will resume navigating via the Red Sea “as soon as conditions allow, with the safety of our crew as a top priority,” Clerc adds.
[Yahoo - Telegraph] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has lost control of the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... and is struggling to hold together what is left of its "axis of resistance" forces around the Middle East, Iranian officials say.
The officials have described how the rebels in Yemen, who regularly attack global shipping lanes, have stopped taking orders from Tehran.
"The Houthis have gone rogue for a while and are now really rebels," a senior Iranian official told The Telegraph from Tehran. "They do not listen to Tehran as much as they used to."
The official added: "It’s not just the Houthis — some groups in Iraq are also acting as if we never had any contact with them."
The Houthis are Iran’s last remaining significant proxy force after Israel destroyed Hezbollah’s top command and what remains of Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... was cut off by the siege of 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... A senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander from Iran arrived in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, last week in an attempt to bring the Houthi rebels back under Tehran’s control, The Telegraph understands.
Part of the IRGC’s plan to appease the rebels and rebuild the "axis of resistance" around them is to boost support for the Yemeni rebels after a months-long lull.
After the war with Israel, Iranian officials are increasingly reliant on their remaining assets in the region: select militia groups in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen.
For decades, the holy mans in Tehran waged massive propaganda and military campaigns portraying Iran as the chief defender of the Paleostinian cause.
But they didn’t attend the Gaza ceasefire talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, because, as Iranian officials admitted: "They know they’ve lost the game."
On the Iraqi militias, one Iranian official said: "They were told several times to not even hold training sessions for a while until things calmed down, but they do not listen either."
The crisis with Iran’s proxies represents a fundamental shift in the regime’s regional posture, forcing Tehran to confront the collapse of a four-decade strategy built on projecting power through proxy forces rather than direct military engagement.
In Yemen, the Houthis have survived years of strikes and become adept at hiding their military equipment.
They have also broadened alliances and supply lines to try to wean themselves off support from Iran in recent months.
Mahmoud Shehrah, a former Yemeni diplomat, told The Telegraph: "The Houthis don’t need someone to encourage them. This is about the Houthis’ beliefs and they have their literature and their narratives."
He added: "But we don’t ignore the co-ordination with Iran and the support and the smuggling and technology transfer from Houthis, from Iran to Sanaa. Houthis, they already have their own motivation to escalate."
The Houthis’ rift with Iran goes back to April, when Tehran failed to come to their aid during heavy US strikes over fears of being drawn into direct conflict with America.
Since the Hamas-led Oct 7 attacks on Israel in 2023, however, the group has improved their tactics and missile capabilities and built a strong public image.
They control Sanaa, print money, collect taxes, divert aid, smuggle drugs, sell weapons to terror groups in Africa and disrupt international shipping routes in the Red Sea.
They also have a geographic advantage. Yemen’s mountainous terrain, similar to Afghanistan, helps them hide stockpiles of missiles and drones in caves and underground.
The IRGC dispatched a senior commander back to Yemen last week to address what Yemeni opposition media describe as a leadership crisis within the Houthis.
Abdolreza Shahlaei, commander of the Quds Force, an elite unit within the IRGC, returned to Sanaa after previously being recalled to Iran.
"The Houthis are currently facing a crisis of options and priorities, pressing internal challenges, and a complex regional landscape," a recent report in Defense Line, a Yemeni military affairs platform, said.
The report added that IRGC personnel and experts assisting the Houthis "do not fill this strategic void" and are "essentially an extension and reflection of the confusion that exists in Tehran".
Shahlaei is one of the IRGC most enigmatic commanders. The United States has set a $15m (£11.4m) reward for information on his network and activities.
The Iranian official who spoke with The Telegraph said one of Shahlaei’s plans was to urge the Houthis to "co-operate more than before since they are the only functioning group remaining".
The American-led campaign of air strikes, that Mr Trump claimed had "decimated" the Houthis, was less effective than the president might have boasted, experts said.
A two-year campaign of strikes conducted under Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. You're a lyin' dog-faced pony soldier... , the former US president, and then Mr Trump is estimated to have cost at least $7bn.
The Houthis had already weathered years of air attacks from Saudi-led forces and had become used to hiding their weapons to conduct mobile hit-and-run strikes.
Dr Bader al-Saif of the University of Kuwait said co-operation benefited both Iran and the Houthis.
He said: "There is benefit for both Iran and Houthis to work together, and they have been. But I think they also have divergent interests, and they’ll carry their own interests when they see fit, whether in Iran’s case or in the Houthi case. Think of it as a kind of franchise."
For the love of God, please send the social workers -- preferably those social workers with MSW degrees granted by Univ Michigan or by Brown Univ or by UCLA.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli TV report says US president was ‘disappointed and angry’ after MBS cited domestic opposition to normalizing ties with Jewish state
The truly devout join Hamas in objecting to a Jewish state anywhere, not just within these borders or those.And Israel objects to being forced out of existence, and Israel can enforce its objection. It’s a conundrum.
US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... was left "disappointed and angry" after a "tense" exchange with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists... over normalization with Israel during their White House meeting last week, Israeli television reported Tuesday.
Citing two senior American officials and an additional source familiar with the conversation, Channel 12 news said Trump was the one to raise the issue, urging the crown prince to move forward immediately with normalization. In response, Bin Salman pushed back, saying that while he isn’t against normalization in principle, widespread anti-Israel sentiment in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... following the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... doesn’t allow for the move at this time.
While the conversation remained polite, a senior US official told the network that Trump was "disappointed and angry" over the crown prince’s refusal.
The official added that "bin Salman did not say ’never’ in the meeting regarding normalization with Israel. He left the door open to doing it in the future — but the issue of a two-state solution is a major problem" — a condition bin Salman stated publicly at the White House.
"With the collapse of Iran’s nuclear program totally completed and the war in Gaza over, it is important to President Trump that all countries in the Middle East join the Abraham Accords to advance peace in the region," a senior White House official was quoted as saying.
The Saudis’ concerns were the Palestinians exploding — or eslewhere in the Ummah exploding on their behalf — and Iran attempting to conquer. If both those issues are pretty much settled to their loss, why need the Saudis make concessions?
The Saudi embassy in Washington did not provide a response to the report, while the White House repeated Trump’s call for all Middle Eastern nations to sign onto the accords.
Saudi Arabia has insisted on a credible pathway to Paleostinian statehood in exchange for establishing formal relations with Israel, a condition rejected by the Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared during an interview last week that "there will not be a Paleostinian state," even at the cost of normalization with Riyadh.
Netanyahu nevertheless declared that "the conditions could develop" for normalization now that the Israel-Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... war in Gaza is winding down.
"But the conditions must be acceptable to both sides — terms that are good for both sides," he said. "I know how to stand firm on our essential conditions and not endanger our security. And if this process ripens later on, excellent. And if not, we will safeguard our vital interests."
[IsraelTimes] Court shown bodycam video from 2024 Elbit break-in in Bristol; Sgt. Kate Evans says she was left unable to work, drive or dress herself after member of proscribed anti-Israel group hit her
Police bodycam footage that was played Monday at the trial of six Paleostine Action members who broke into a UK subsidiary of Israeli arms firm Elbit last year showed one of the intruders striking an officer on the back with a sledgehammer as she knelt on the floor during the break-in, fracturing her lumbar spine.
"I had no idea what it was until I turned around and saw a male with a sledgehammer behind me," said the officer, Sgt. Kate Evans, at the trial of the proscribed anti-Israel group’s members, according to Sky News. "I said something like ’you have just hit me with a sledgehammer,’ and he didn’t recognize that at all. He just started telling me I’m complicit in genocide again."
When other officers arrested the six intruders, Evans’ alleged attacker, 23-year-old Samuel Corner, complained to her that his handcuffs were too tight, she told the Woolwich Crown Court.
"We still have a duty of care to make sure no one is in pain... They seemed perfectly fine to me," said Evans, whom Channel 4 News described as helping the other officers while "scooting around on her backside" because she was unable to stand.
The attack left Evans unable to drive, dress or shower without assistance, she said, adding that she took painkillers to handle the "intense pain."
She could not work for three months, and remains on restricted duty, the BBC reported.
Corner is accused of causing grievous bodily harm to Evans. Along with fellow defendants Charlotte Head, 29, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, he is also accused of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent mostly peaceful disorder at the Elbit UK site in Bristol. All of the accused deny all charges.
The six defendants were arrested last August at the Bristol site, which belongs to a subsidiary of Israeli weapons producer Elbit Systems, one of the IDF’s biggest suppliers.
In their trial, the accused spoke about their opposition to Israel’s actions in the West Bank and 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... , UK media reported.
Officers who responded to the break-in testified on Monday that they saw a security guard at the factory covered in foam as the intruders, clad in red jumpsuits and splattering red paint, wielded sledgehammers to smash property, Sky News reported.
One of the officers, Police Constable Aaron Buxton, said Corner also "swung the sledgehammer multiple times" at him as the officer struggled with another intruder.
"I was scared. I believe it made contact with my right calf and my work radio. I had quite considerable pain down that area of my leg following it and also I had some bruising come up," said Buxton.
The officer said he then saw Corner attack Evans, who was kneeling and trying to arrest another intruder.
Evans recalled seeing another colleague, Constable Peter Adams, shocked as the sledgehammer came crashing down.
"I can remember looking up and PC Adams for some reason had a shocked face on him, and then I had a pain in my back," she said. "It was just a massive shock vibrating through my whole back, a thud on my back through my whole body extended down to my legs."
Adams recalled: "I remember her screaming in pain and she’s fallen to the floor on her back."
Adams recalled Evans being struck twice, but Evans remembered only one blow of the sledgehammer, according to the BBC.
The trial is expected to last until January. Because the allegations in the case came before the UK proscribed Paleostine Action in July, the terror ban on the group is irrelevant to the trial, prosecutors have said.
UK authorities declared Paleostine Action a terror group after members of the organization broke into a Royal Air Force base in central England in June and vandalized planes.
The ban has resulted in hundreds of arrests at protests in support of the group, with supporters claiming that the organization is peaceful in its actions.
Some far-right UK activists seized on the newly released bodycam footage on Monday to criticize those who have accused law enforcement of heavy-handed policing against anti-Israel protesters since the devastating Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... attack of October 7, 2023, in southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
"All those politicians and ’celebrities’ standing by them, calling them ’non violent mostly peaceful’? Tell that to this WPC!" wrote far-right anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson on X, referring to Evans with the abbreviation for Woman Police Constable, a rank phased out by British police in the 1990s.
🔴 Palestine Action activist ‘broke police officer’s back with sledgehammer’
The alleged attack is said to have fractured Sgt Kate Evans’ spine
Elon Musk probably doesn't even know the earthquake he unleashed in Iran.
Because of the country location update, we now have a full list of regime supporters inside Iran who are so important and valued that they get to enjoy VPN free social media.
[Breitbart] Islamist networks, including the Muslim Brotherhood, are “structured around a secret pyramid of about one hundred sworn members” who are tasked with influencing the mind of at least 100,000 Muslims in France through between 100 and 200 mosques tied to the radical cause, the report claimed.
Thus, there is an urgen need for a “comprehensive republican rearmament in the face of the Islamist offensive. This rearmament must be intellectual, legal, administrative, and political,” they argued.
[IsraelTimes] The Trump administration is advocating for the swift construction of residential compounds in areas of Israeli-controlled Gaza that would provide housing to Palestinians in the enclave, the New York Times reports.
Citing over 20 officials it interviewed, the US newspaper says the compounds would be known as “Alternative Safe Communities,” with each housing between 20,000 and 25,000 Gazans. The compounds, which will be composed of temporary structures, will also include medical clinics and educational facilities. with "Alternative Tunnels™" underneath?
“There’s a practical issue: How do we get people into safe housing as soon as humanly possible?” senior Trump administration official Aryeh Lightstone, who is in charge of the effort, tells the Times. “This is the easiest way to do that.”
The report notes that it’s unclear how many Palestinians are able or would want to live in the compounds, which if constructed, would only have sufficient space for a small number of the Gaza Strip’s roughly 2 million residents, and how the project would be funded.
Officials quoted in the report also cite concerns over whether Palestinians who move to the compounds would be able to leave and whether Israel could block some potential residents after vetting them.
The report’s core details were first revealed by The Times of Israel at the beginning of November when Arab diplomats relayed that one of the main proposals presented to potential Gulf donor countries envisioned the construction of roughly half a dozen residential regions on the eastern half of the Strip, which is currently under Israeli control.
The diplomats said that “new Gaza” was the term frequently used by US officials to describe the project that will take place on the eastern side of the Yellow Line — the newly created boundary to which the IDF withdrew on October 10 at the start of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
#2
If there is a West Bank, there must be an East Bank. If your neighbor swore to kill you and your daughters and sons, why would you build them a guest house on your property? What phrase did Elon coin. that's right:
suicidal empathy.
East Bank sounds ever much as lovely as West Bank. Oh yea - forgot - our Peace Partners can't be resettled in Jordan because they killed the founder of the kingdom, and a bunch of other royalty during their uprising there.
[IsraelTimes] Iran will raise the price of its heavily subsidized fuel under certain limited circumstances, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reports, as the OPEC member seeks to control increasing fuel demand without triggering public anger.
“With the government’s decision, starting in December, refueling vehicles with emergency fuel cards will be charged at a rate of 50,000 Iranian rials per liter ($0.44 per the free market rate),” Tasnim reports, adding that the new rate represented 10% of what it costs the state to buy one liter of fuel from refineries.
Emergency cards can be used at fuel stations if the driver is not in possession of their smart card, introduced in 2007, which allows them to purchase up to 60 liters of fuel at 15,000 rials per liter ($0.14) and up to 100 liter at 30,000 rials per liter ($0.27).
According to Tasnim, domestic fuel production of around 110 million liters per day is surpassed by rising demand, which can go up to 140 million liters per day due to several factors such as inefficient cars, smuggling and summer heat.
Government officials have warned that subsidized fuel prices in Iran are “not rational,” impose a heavy burden on state finances, and incentivize suboptimal consumption as well as force fuel imports.
The introduction of a third pricing rate for fuel in Iran differs from the sudden decision in 2019 to raise fuel prices for all smart cards, which led to widespread protests that were crushed by the state.
Tasnim shares the cabinet decision’s document, which also mentions that private drivers owning several cars will only be able to use smart card quotas for one of their cars, while government-owned vehicles, newly produced cars, and foreign imported cars will have to pay the more expensive rate.
According to the document, further changes such as lower gas quotas for CNG-powered cars, which represent an important share of taxis, are expected in February.
[IsraelTimes] Haytham Ali Tabatabai helped replenish forces from 2024 losses, ensure commanders had replacements, WSJ says; Hamas, Hezbollah reportedly boosting cooperation
Haytham Ali Tabatabai, the Hezbollah military chief of staff killed by Israel on Sunday in a Beirut Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... , was a key part of the terror group’s efforts to rebuild following the devastating losses it suffered in its recent war with the Jewish state.
After the war, Tabatabai helped Hezbollah largely replace its thousands of lost fighters, ensure commanders trained capable replacements lest they be killed, and transition to fighting in smaller cells to better survive another war with Israel, according to the Journal.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, echoing Israel, that Tabatabai focused on building back Hezbollah’s forces in southern Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... , despite the ceasefire reached in November 2024, which demanded the terror group withdraw to north of the Litani River, and required the national government of Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.
The agreement ended a year of fighting that started when Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8, 2023.
After the war, Tabatabai helped Hezbollah largely replace its thousands of lost fighters, ensure commanders trained capable replacements lest they be killed, and transition to fighting in smaller cells to better survive another war with Israel, according to the Journal.
That’s the hope, anyway. Given that he is now dead, how good could his ideas have been?
Tabatabai’s killing came after a year of near-daily Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, accompanied by accusations that Hezbollah is operating in the area contrary to the terms of the truce.
That agreement allows Israel to strike immediate threats, though longer-term issues must be directed to an international committee. The truce also ordered Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon entirely, though Israel has kept forces at five strategic locations.
After the ceasefire was reached, the Lebanese government drew up plans to completely disarm Hezbollah, despite the terror group’s repeated declarations that it would not give up its weapons.
The Lebanese Armed Forces has over the last year successfully removed nearly 10,000 rockets, almost 400 missiles and over 205,000 unwent kaboom! ordnance fragments, according to the US Central Command.
The Lebanese Armed Forces has over the last year successfully removed nearly 10,000 rockets, almost 400 missiles and over 205,000 unwent kaboom! ordnance fragments, according to the US Central Command.
However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... the army has only done so in southern Lebanon, and it is unclear whether it will succeed in expanding the disarmament project further north. Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his shoulder. Ow! he exclaimed, with feeling...... Israel has warned that the terror group is working to rearm.
Previous WSJ reporting has said that Arab and Israeli intelligence indicates the terror group is restocking rockets, anti-tank missiles and artillery.
Before the strike and in its wake, Israeli officials vowed to respond to ceasefire violations and to take all actions necessary to prevent Hezbollah from restoring its ability to threaten Israel.
TABATABAI LED HEZBOLLAH FORCES IN SYRIA, HELPED TRAIN HOUTHIS
According to the report, Tabatabai, 57 when he was killed, joined Hezbollah as a minor, when the group began, and helped to form what became the elite Radwan force, which is tasked with preparations to invade Israel.
He rose through Hezbollah’s ranks and went on to lead its forces in Syria, where they supported the since-deposed president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... in the country’s long civil war. In January 2015, Tabatabai survived an Israeli strike in southern Syria.
Later, he was dispatched to Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... to help train the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... rebel group, another Iran-backed militia that has fought with Israel since the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... terror group’s October 7 attack on Israel triggered a multi-front war.
HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH SAID TO BOOST COOPERATION OF LATE
Separately, the Kan public broadcaster reported Tuesday that Hezbollah and Hamas have substantially boosted their military cooperation in Lebanon.
Hamas has allocated entire companies, made up of hundreds of fighters, to potentially join the Radwan force, according to the report.
Which means they’ll no longer be in Gaza, and hunting them won’t be in the glare of the international spotlight? Cool!
Hamas has managed to strengthen its presence in Lebanon, as Israel focused most of its strikes on Hezbollah during the war.
Lately, it has focused on raising funds and increasing production of rockets on Lebanese territory, mainly in the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... Last week, Israel carried out a relatively rare strike against what it said was a Hamas training center in Sidon.
This would be that peculiar definition of civilian that means they were only counted after they dropped their weapons at their feet.
[IsraelTimes] Rights office spokesman calls for ‘prompt and impartial’ investigation, says only civilian fatalities discovered after strike on Ain al-Hilweh that IDF said targeted Hamas facility
The United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... office on Tuesday said at least 127 civilians had been killed in IDF strikes in Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire took effect a year ago, and called for an investigation and for the truce to be upheld.
"Almost a year since the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was agreed, we continue to witness increasing attacks by the Israeli military, resulting in the killing of civilians and destruction of civilian objects in Lebanon, coupled with alarming threats of a wider, intensified offensive," said Thameen al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, at a Geneva press briefing.
He said the number reflected deaths it had verified based on its own strict methodology but that the real toll could be higher.
The November 27, 2024, ceasefire agreement required both Israel and Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, while allowing Israel to act against imminent threats from Lebanon.
It envisioned the Lebanese military and international peacekeeping force UNIFIL taking over south Lebanon and dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.
Israel, which says Hezbollah is rebuilding, has intensified its attacks on the Iran-backed terror group in recent days, including a strike that killed its de facto military leader on Sunday.
Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire by continuing its strikes and holding onto five spots along the countries’ border.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, more than 330 people have been killed in Lebanon and 945 have been maimed since ceasefire took effect.
The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The IDF says that, since the ceasefire took effect, it has killed over 350 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...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...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
