[FoxNews] Texans are outraged after a "rogue" judge set bond for a capital murder suspect who is accused of killing a Houston-area deputy just one day after his co-defendant, another capital murder suspect, was released on bail.
Former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg slammed Judge Hilary Unger during "Fox & Friends" for providing a pathway for release for suspect Ronnie Palmer, who was charged in connection with the death of Deputy Fernando Esqueda in July 2024.
"Our judges, unfortunately, in Harris County, have shown a pattern of releasing repeat violent offenders among us," Ogg told Lawrence Jones on Friday.
"Right now, there are more than 830 fugitives or individuals on bond for capital murder or murder, but LJ, none for the murder of a police officer. This is a first for us."
Unger set Palmer's bond at $3 million on Thursday, according to a court document shared by the Harris County Deputies' Organization (HCDO). Palmer has been in jail since July with no bond on that charge until now.
He is also facing two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Esqueda's death. Bond for those charges is set at $50,000 each.
Though Palmer remains in jail as of Thursday, he now has the opportunity to post bail and return to the streets.
This comes on the heels of the release of the other suspect in Esqueda's murder, Dremone Francis, who was released to house arrest after he posted the $1 million bond set in November 2024.
In addition to his capital murder charge, Francis had previously been convicted of manufacturing and delivering drugs. He also had his probation "unsatisfactorily terminated" in 2022.
Unger, whose duty is to set bonds in cases like these, should have set the amount higher to avoid compromising public safety, Ogg argued.
"Unfortunately, Judge Hilary Unger is a rogue judge and notorious for releasing repeat offenders who go out and kill other members of our community," she said.
Following blowback from the community, a defense attorney told FOX 26 Houston on Thursday that Unger was not involved in setting bond for Francis, despite the Houston Police Officers' Union and the HCDO saying that she was.
"They made it very difficult for the judge because she is not the one who had set the bond," said Cheryl Irvin. "The bond was set and nobody objected to it from the district attorney’s office from the previous administration."
Local outlets reported that the State of Texas filed for a proof-evident hearing when Francis was arrested in July 2024, which would've made no bond an option. That hearing was supposed to happen within 10 days, but since it didn't, Francis became eligible for bond and his attorney requested it be set. It's not clear why the state did not proceed with the hearing.
Regardless, Houston Police Officers' Union President Douglas Griffith insisted Unger could have taken additional measures to keep the community safe.
"He had multiple bonds. He's out of a lengthy criminal history. She could have held him. There is no forced mechanism to not hold him in jail. It's completely up to her," he said during "Fox & Friends First," arguing the judge has had a history of releasing violent offenders on bond.
"When these guys don't come to court because it's a capital murder case, then we're going to be forced to go out there and get them again, and then they can gun down another officer," he continued. "There were 42 rounds fired at Deputy Esqueda. These are violent offenders. We are going to see them again in the headlines of the news, and it's all going to be on this judge's back."
Unger, who is up for re-election in 2026, campaigned previously on prioritizing "alternatives to incarceration with an eye towards rehabilitation, a reduction in recidivism, and an increase in community safety," according to her campaign website.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the 248th District Court for comment.
Pull the verbal and $$$$$ support out from under such judges.
Seek out their past political and media supporters on record.
Post their videos stating their support of these liberal judges.
Ask them if they still support, right then & there, renounce their support?
Along with video clips of the Victims and families.
President @HassanSMohamud, in his televised Ramadan address, urged Somalis to unite in support of the government’s efforts to liberate the country from Kharijites, who have occupied parts of Somalia for 18 years. He emphasized national solidarity in the fight against terrorism.… pic.twitter.com/CgJyO4JOD1
[Garowe] The United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... has yet again blamed Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... n troops for continued violations of human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... in the Tigray region, adding that the abuses call for accountability and discipline for the sake of transparency.
Ilze Brands-Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General at the UN Human Rights Office, said the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF) remain in Tigray despite the 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which mandated their withdrawal. The agreement was signed in South Africa.
Citing the joint OHCHR—Æthiopia Human Rights Investigations Team in 2023, she said the Eritrean troops were found culpable of serious violations of human rights in northern Æthiopia, within Tigray state.
"This impunity continues to embolden perpetrators of human rights violations," she added.
For two years since the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed, the Eritrean Defence Forces have refused to withdraw from Tigray. The agreement called for the immediate withdrawal of international forces from Tigray.
"Our Office has credible information that the Eritrean Defence Forces remain in Tigray," she said, adding that they are responsible for "abductions, rape, property looting, and arbitrary arrests." She called for their "immediate withdrawal."
Several international human rights organizations have documented abuses by Eritrean forces in the Tigray region both during and after the war. In its 2024 annual report, Human Rights Watch cited "ongoing abuses by Eritrean forces," including "rape, sexual violence against women and girls, and looting of civilian property."
A previous report by Addis Standard also documented accounts of abductions in Zalambessa, where residents said they are "living in fear" and avoiding going outside after dark due to the presence of Eritrean troops, Addis Standard reports.
They’re on again after being off again… to be followed by off again in due course.
[Garowe] Somalia and Æthiopia have welcomed a recent military deal between the Somali National Army (SNA) and the Æthiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), which paved the way for a new collaboration based on mutual respect and strict adherence and respect to each country's territorial integrity and illusory sovereignty.
General Odowaa Yusuf Rage of the SNA and Field Marshal Birhanu Jula met a few days before President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud hosted Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Mogadishu, where the deal was approved by both parties.
In a joint communique released after Abiy's trip to Mogadishu, the two countries called the deal between the commanders a 'critical step' toward 'enhancing security cooperation' and fostering regional stability.
The visit, the two leaders admitted, reinforces the "normalization of bilateral relations" after months of engagements. They emphasized their "deep historical ties" and the importance of "building trust" through "stronger diplomatic, economic, and social cooperation."
Æthiopia and Somalia have renewed their engagement after a year of diplomatic fallout triggered by the former's decision to sign an agreement with Somaliland ...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells.... , a breakaway region of Somalia, which would have given Æthiopia 20 kilometers of access to the Red Sea in exchange for international recognition.
As part of her retaliation strategy, Somalia signed a military pact with Egypt, a traditional rival of Æthiopia besides ruling out participation of the ENDF in the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).
Somalia has since reached an agreement with Æthiopia over the participation of the Æthiopian National Defense Forces in the AUSSOM mission which started in January. The two countries also embraced technical teams to find the best way Æthiopia can access the sea without compromising Somalia’s illusory sovereignty.
President Mohamud’s visit to Æthiopia in January marked a turning point, with both sides agreeing to "full diplomatic representation" and expanded economic and security collaboration. The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... played a key role in the mediation process.
The AUSSOM troops selected from Kenya, Æthiopia, Djibouti, Egypt, and Uganda total to 11,900. However,
women are made to be loved, not understood... Burundi has threatened to withdraw its contingent after it failed to agree on the exact numbers with Somalia, with Bujumbura pushing for an extra 1,000 soldiers.
[IsraelTimes] The BBC may be investigated by British counterterrorism police over whether it paid money to terror group Hamas, after it was revealed that the narrator for a recent documentary about the war in Gaza was the son of a Hamas minister.
“Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are currently assessing whether any police action is required in relation to this matter,” a spokesman tells The Times.
After pulling the documentary from streaming and acknowledging “serious flaws” in its conduct, the BBC has admitted that some money was paid to the boy’s family. According to The Times, this is thought to be a few hundred pounds.
Check your records, guys, and give us an actual number. You do keep proper accounts, don’t you?
The network is now conducting a review of the case and the behavior of production company Hoyo Films. The British government has also demanded accountability from the broadcaster.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), banned in Turkey, has declared its readiness to agree to a ceasefire, heeding the call of its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan. This was reported by the Turkish TV channel A haber, citing the party's appeal.
"We agree with [Ocalan's] call, with its content. We declare that we will, for our part, observe and fulfill the demands of this call. We declare a ceasefire," the PKK said in a statement.
The Kurdish organization also stressed that their agreement to a ceasefire would be valid on the condition that they were not attacked. The PKK pointed out the importance of Ocalan's participation in disarmament.
"We are also ready to convene a party congress at the leader's request. However, this requires the creation of appropriate security conditions, and Leader Apo (Ocalan's party nickname - Ed.) must personally lead and conduct the congress for its success," the PKK letter states.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the founder of the PKK, Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence, called on his fighters on February 27 to lay down their arms and stop the armed confrontation with Turkey. According to him, the dissolution of the PKK is necessary because it was created in the last century, during a period when democratic paths were closed. Now, the PKK founder believes, the situation has changed, since peace and democratic society have become the language of the modern era.
On January 6, the Hürriyet newspaper reported, citing sources, that the new Syrian authorities had demanded that the PKK leadership lay down their arms during negotiations. It was noted that in exchange for the surrender of their arms, the Kurdish representatives demanded that they be given a division or army corps in the Syrian army being created and that the oil fields in the north of the country, controlled jointly with the United States, be equally divided.
On December 25, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the PKK had no choice but to lay down its arms, vowing otherwise to "bury the Kurdish fighters along with their weapons."
The conflict between Turkey and the PKK began in 1984. Ankara views the group as a threat to national security, regularly carrying out raids against its supporters at home and operations in northern Iraq and Syria. In January, Erdogan said the Turkish and Syrian armed forces would carry out a large-scale military operation against the PKK if the West made new demands.
[Rudaw] Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... on Saturday said Ankara is open to compromise and dialogue, but threatened to continue military operations "if the promises given are not kept," after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced a unilateral ceasefire following a call from their nabbed Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! leader to disarm and disband.
"If the promises given are not kept and attempts are made to resort to oriental tricks such as constant stalling, deceitful name changing and doing whatever they want, the sin will not be on us. We will continue our ongoing operations, if necessary, until we eliminate the last terrorist, without leaving a single stone on top of another, without leaving a single head on his shoulder," Erdogan said on Saturday, according to Anadolu Agency.
A letter from the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, was shared with the public on Thursday. In it, he urged the group to disarm and disband. His message has sparked hope for an end to four decades of a conflict that has taken 40,000 lives.
On Saturday, the PKK announced their full support for Ocalan’s message and declared a unilateral ceasefire, reserving the right to self defense. But they warned that in order for peace talks to be successful, "a suitable democratic political and legal foundation must also be established."
Erdogan indicated he is open to peace talks, but with caution.
"Of course, we give priority to discussion, conversation and compromise in resolving our issues, and we continue to do so. From now on, we will continue to observe mutual respect, tolerance and dialogue instead of hate speech, fighting and tension, but we always keep our iron fist ready in case the hand we extend is left in the air or bitten," he said.
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... carried out multiple attacks on suspected PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region in the days after Ocalan’s message was released, according to the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), which monitors the conflict.
"Since Ocalan's message, Turkey has bombed the borders of both Duhok and Erbil provinces seven times," CPT member Kamaran Osman told Rudaw on Saturday.
Two strikes targeted Erbil province and the remaining occurred in Duhok province.
"Turkey has bombed Khwakurk once and Khnera once on the Sidakan border in Erbil province," Osman said. "The other five bombardments were in Duhok province. Two of them on Mount Gara and the other three bombardments were in Matin, especially on the borders of the villages of Goharzeh and Kani Balagh."
Time to deploy a DOGE team. And then walk a bunch of people out the door for insubordination.
[GatewayPundit] IRS officials have decided to conceal the home addresses of some 700,000 people suspected of being in the United States illegally, according to a report from the Washington Post.
The decision came on a request from immigration enforcement officials for those locations, and it was the IRS “rebuffing” attempts by the administration of President Donald Trump to gain access to that information for his crackdown on illegals.
The report noted that the Internal Revenue Service had promised “undocumented immigrants” over the years that it would protect their information and it would be safe for them to file income tax documents “without fear of being deported.”
And the IRS said the law doesn’t allow the release of personal information, even to another government agency. "Paging Lois Lerner to the Discourtesy Phone"
AT the time, the IRS claimed, “There is no authorization under this provision to share tax data with ICE.”
The report said an estimated one-half of the 11 million illegal aliens in the country file income tax returns, filing with individual taxpayer numbers, or ITINs, as they are ineligible for Social Security numbers.
The report credited this population with paying billions of dollars in federal taxes.
The report said the Washington Post got access to a memo in which Department of Homeland Security officials asked the IRS to link the names with a last known address, phone number or email, and the request was a followup to a DHS request weeks ago that would let immigration officials turn over a list of names to the IRS in order to get home addresses.
The publication said five anonymous people familiar with the scenario made those claims.
Then this week a memo asked the IRS “to deploy dozens of highly skilled IRS auditors and criminal investigators to launch probes of businesses suspected of hiring immigrants not authorized to work in the United States,” the report said.
It said, “IRS investigations should be conducted, and assistance should be provided without regard for any threshold, floor, or internal policy for opening an investigation. Further, IRS should provide leads on businesses that are circumventing tax laws or violating worksite-related statutes, many of which are from prior leads or complaints that IRS did not investigate due to not meeting internal IRS policy for opening an investigation.”
While the IRS rejected the plan, the report said, the agency is trying to reach agreement on ways to help immigration officials without violating privacy laws.
The publication’s sources claimed the idea is triggering alarm inside the IRS because handing out taxpayer information to third parties in both a civil and criminal offense.
Dorothy A. Brown, of Georgetown University Law Center, claimed the program sounded like “racial profiling on steroids.”
And the report noted an anonymous federal official said ICE would be viewing IRS records as a way to locate illegal aliens through their address, workplaces, children and more.
Georgetown Law
https://www.law.georgetown.edu › faculty › dorothy-brown...
Currently Dorothy teaches Fundamentals of Income Tax, Legislation and Regulation, Corporate Tax, CRITICAL RACE THEORY and Tax Policy.
#5
As predicted, the rebellion spreads. The Left senses blood in the water.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/02/2025 10:03 Comments ||
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#6
Fire more people at the IRS until you get the right response.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/02/2025 10:36 Comments ||
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#7
claimed the program sounded like “racial profiling on steroids.”
There ya go again - conflating race with nationality.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/02/2025 11:21 Comments ||
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#8
Personally I don’t think Bondi is up to the task. She’ll go by the book religiously. When she needs to roll into the IRS with a few hundred U.S. Marshals in full battle rattle and take people out in cuffs and hoods.
Forming up to go after the narco gang, possibly as the anvil to whatever hammering is planned?
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The United States will deploy nearly 3,000 additional troops to its border with Mexico, bringing the total number of active-duty personnel there to around 9,000, the US military said on Saturday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered elements of a Stryker brigade combat team and a general support aviation battalion for the mission, the Pentagon said.
The forces will arrive along the nearly 2,000-mile border in the coming weeks.
Border security is a key priority for President Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency at the US frontier with Mexico on his first day in office.
The new troops will 'reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States,' the Pentagon said.
The Stryker unit 'will not conduct or be involved in interdiction or deportation operations,' it said, but rather will assist in detection and monitoring, administrative duties and transportation and engineering support, among other tasks.
The Strykers are medium-armored wheeled personnel carriers carrying up to 11 soldiers and typically equipped with a machine gun or grenade launcher. They have been used in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan reports The Washington Post.
The vehicles will likely be moved to the border by rail and truck and will initially be sent to Arizona.
Troops from the aviation unit will meanwhile 'assist in the movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies; and provide aerial medical evacuation capabilities,' NORTHCOM explained.
'These deployments will bring additional agility and capability to further efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrancy and drugs at the southern border,' its commander, General Gregory Guillot said.
The deployment is said to have been planned since January.
'Approximately 2,400 soldiers from elements of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4th Infantry Division in Colorado' will be sent to the border, along with 'approximately 500 soldiers from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade,' US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) said in a statement.
The 9,000 troops at the southern border, include 4,200 deployed under federal orders and about 5,000 National Guard troops under the control of governors.
President Trump is determined to expand the military's role in his effort to shut down the border and send detained migrants back to their home countries.
The administration launched what it cast as a major effort to combat illegal migration that has included immigration raids, arrests and deportations.
NJ Imam Mohamed Hassaballa: Christians Are Idolaters, Jihad Against Disbelievers Is Justified
In a Friday sermon, NJ Imam Mohamed Hassaballa declared Christians to be “open idolaters” and emphasized that humility doesn’t contradict strength. He preached that while Muslims can… pic.twitter.com/3pLiw6daDu
…while Muslims can “lower their wings” to fellow believers, they must “fight and wage Jihad” against disbelievers without fearing media backlash.
According to MEMRI, this is from the Friday sermon on December 6, 2024, at the Clifton location of the Hamas-linked Islamic Center of Passaic County, one of New Jersey’s largest mosques. Chris Christie expressed fondness for the place, back when he wanted to be Mitt Romney’s VP.
#6
Used to be when I didn't like the volume/tone of what someone was saying about/to me, I would knock them down. Then again, and again, until they revised their behavior or couldn't get up.
I'm older now and travel in different circles.
I realize that was playground behavior.
Now I carry tools.
#10
Imagine a spherical jockey
On cubical camel. ["Bit balky."]
Islamophobes pushed
And he busted his tush
Rocked his taut jihad bod and chopsocky!
[blocky video]
[NY Post] Well, they were already fasting, so...
Israel halted humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday and warned Hamas there would be “additional consequences” after the cease-fire deal expired — a move the terror organization claimed was an attempt at “cheap extortion.”
Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the ceasefire’s first stage, which ended Saturday.
Meanwhile, Egypt said Sunday his country will present plan to rebuild Gaza — and let Palestinians stay on the strip — at an emergency Arab summit March 4, according to the Times of Israel.
The proposal comes as Arab countries try to counter Trump’s controversial plan to uproot Palestinians and send them out of Gaza so the United States can control it.
Also on Sunday, Israeli official told the Associated Press that the country coordinated with the Trump administration to end aid shipments to the Palestinian enclave along the Mediterranean.
In response, Hamas called Israel’s strong-arm tactics “cheap extortion, a war crime and a blatant attack” on the truce,” which began Jan. 19 after more than a year of talks.
Despite the squabble, neither side declared the fragile armistice dead in the water.
A proposal to extend the cease-fire — which Israel said came from Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Mideast envoy — would keep the truce in place through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday, which ends April 20.
Hamas would release half its remaining hostages on the first day, and would cut the rest loose after the two sides reached a permanent ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
“We fulfilled all our commitments (under Phase 1) until the very last day, which was yesterday,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a press conference.
“Our position is that during negotiations, hostages should be released.”
Hamas, for its part, quickly warned that any attempt to cancel the ceasefire would lead to “humanitarian consequences” for those still in its care.
Monsters being monstrous. There needs to be harsh consequences for that.
The only way to free them, the group said, was through extending the current deal — which did not include a timeline for release.
Hamas has said it would free all the hostages at once during a second phase, but would also demand the release of Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli pullout.
Neither Hamas nor Egypt would accept a proposal to let the captives go if Israel doesn’t agree to end the war, an Egyptian official said.
Mediators are still trying to resolve the argument, the official added.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said that Arab nations are working to agreed on a plan for rebuilding Gaza after the war ends.
“We will hold intensive talks with major donor countries once the plan is adopted at the upcoming Arab summit,” Abdelatty said at a press conference, the outlet reported.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2025 12:09 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#4
Is there a specific MRE that works best for IFTAR?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/02/2025 10:33 Comments ||
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#5
^ Pork chops
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2025 12:07 Comments ||
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#6
That is some fine looking rubble there in the pic! And a whole lot of it, too. Maybe in addition to turning Gaza into a resort hotel complex, we should save some of it for Hollywood movie sets. War movies, disaster flicks and anything with giant robots punching monsters - you could save a fortune on building sets.
…a brilliant choice by President Trump. I’m so glad they managed to make up since the 2016 presidential primary!
says he has signed a declaration to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.
The Trump administration, which took office on January 20, has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel, Rubio says in a statement, adding that it “will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s longstanding commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”
More evilness from the local Big Evil — no need to be Al Qaeda or ISIS to plumb those depths. How soon can they be wiped out and their supporters driven from the neighbourhood?
[IsraelTimes] Clip shows Eitan Horn expressing distress he’ll be left behind, hugging his brother Iair before the latter’s release from Gaza; PM’s office slams terror group’s ‘brutal propaganda’
The video begins with five hostages sitting on the floor — the Horn brothers, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and two more hostages whose faces Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... blurred in the video — sitting in a room, preparing to eat. The father of hostage Nimrod Cohen later identified his son as one of the other hostages by the tattoo on his forearm.
"He got the tattoo a few days before he was kidnapped," Yehuda Cohen told the Ynet news site. "I’m disappointed that we don’t see Nimrod’s face because I haven’t seen him in a year and a half, but these are Hamas’s games."
The hostages embrace each other in the video ahead of the release of Iair and Dekel-Chen, which Eitan says in the video would be taking place the next day. Iair Horn, Dekel-Chen, and Sasha Troufanov were released on February 15 as part of the first phase of the deal.
The camera then pans to the face of a distraught Eitan, seemingly overwhelmed about being left behind.
"I am very happy that my brother will be released tomorrow, but it is not logical in any way that families are being separated," Eitan says, his voice cracking.
"Get everyone out and stop [separating] families, and do not destroy our lives anymore," he adds, before crying into the shoulder of his older brother Iair.
"Tell mom, dad and everyone to continue with the demonstrations [for a hostages deal], that they shouldn’t stop and that the government should sign already onto the second and third phases of the deal to return all of us home," Eitan tells his brother Iair. "Do everything you can,"
"You are now forcing me to leave my little brother here to die," Iair says into the camera, with his arm still around Eitan’s shoulder.
Eitan expresses his disbelief and disgust that Israel’s government is not interested in moving forward with the deal’s second phase. "Have you gone crazy?" he asks. "My brother is leaving, and I’m staying here."
Eitan says that sometimes he receives food and sometimes he doesn’t; sometimes he’s okay and sometimes he’s not. "But here, I’m not okay," he says, pointing to his head, apparently referring to the psychological effects of captivity.
Eitan then addresses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly and pleads with him to sign onto the second phase of the hostage deal.
[IsraelTimes] Boycotts of Israeli institutions and researchers won’t stop anytime soon and Israel needs to adapt to the situation, report finds.
Academic boycotts against Israeli institutions continue to gain momentum with no signs of slowing down, according to a report published Monday.
About 500 incidents of academic boycotts were reported during the last half-year through February 2025, 66 percent more than in the six months following the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, according to the Association of University Heads’ Task Force to Combat Academic Boycotts.
The US, Belgium, Spain and England are the countries where the most boycotts were recorded, followed by the Netherlands, Italia and Canada, the report found.
"Our main conclusion following this report is that these boycotts won’t stop anytime soon, and will likely continue for years to come," Emmanuel Nahshon, the head of the task force, told The Times of Israel. "Israel needs to learn to adapt to this situation and develop better tools to deal with it."
This will include creating stronger networks with local Jewish communities and universities, and developing a team to fight the boycotts, Nahshon said. The Association of University Heads is already using its relationships with large Jewish organizations abroad to fight back, and there are efforts to get assistance from the Israeli government, but it will take time, he said.
Among other things, the task force works to monitor the social media activity of pro-Paleostinian organizations on campuses to gather information and prepare for upcoming boycott events.
In addition, a collaboration with a leading law firm in Brussels has had positive results challenging specific European institutions and building coalitions with academics and communities abroad, the task force said.
Israeli academia has been subjected to boycotts for decades, particularly after the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign made it a central target of its anti-Israel strategy in 2004. But the push for the institutional isolation of Israeli universities and intellectuals has grown substantially since Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023.
According to the report, academic boycotts of Israel are being used to harm collaborations for both institutions and individual figures, as well as preventing Israeli researchers from participating in academic conferences and lectures. There is a decline in overseas participation in academic conferences held in Israel, and Israeli researchers report difficulties publishing articles abroad, the report said.
"Academic boycotts violate the basic principles of academic freedom and freedom of scientific research," said Ben-Gurion University President Daniel Haimowitz, who is also chairman of the University Presidents’ Committee. "Science and academic research should bridge cultural and political gaps, not deepen them."
The task force report listed several prominent boycott cases, including a few it helped to overturn:
Ghent University in Belgium decided in May 2024 to sever its academic ties with all Israeli universities, and appealed to the European Commission to deny Israeli academic institutions the ability to participate in Horizon Europe and Erasmus projects. After its appeal was rejected, Ghent independently withdrew from projects involving Israeli partners.
In the summer of 2024, the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations decided to suspend its relationship with the Israeli association, which would harm student exchanges and research and clinical exchange programs. The task force has been working to overturn the decision.
An appeal to the EU by the Irish Nursing Students Association to expel the Israeli association was rejected, thanks in part to the task force’s legal action.
An attempt by mathematicians in France and North Africa to boycott Israel’s Mathematical Union from an international body was mitigated and has not caused any known damage to the Israeli organization.
A student initiative to pressure administrators at the Sorbonne in France was put down after a legal challenge and efforts by the Jewish community there.
In January 2025, when a private university in India canceled the invitation of a senior Israeli academic to speak at a conference, the Israeli ambassador to India recruited one of India’s wealthiest businessmen to successfully reverse the boycott. *Snicker*
“In the end, this will affect everyone,” Nahshon said. “Those who are looking to destroy Israel know that our universities need to interact with the broader academic world, and they see this as a weak point. We have to make sure they don’t succeed.”
As the status of 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... ceasefire entered limbo early Sunday with the formal end of its 42-day first phase, Israel said it would wait an unspecified period of time before taking any action, unveiling details of what it said was an American outline for the release of the remaining hostages and a permanent ceasefire.
Minutes after midnight and following a four-hour security consultation with brass hats, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declared that it was endorsing what it described as a proposal by US President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... ’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the ceasefire with Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... extended through Ramadan and Passover, during which all hostages could potentially be released.
Ramadan, which began Friday night, runs until March 29. Passover ends on April 19.
According to Israel’s account of Witkoff’s proposal, half of the remaining hostages — living and dead — would be released on the first day of the extended ceasefire, and the remaining captives would be released at the end of the period if a permanent ceasefire is reached.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces. Two of the 24 abductees presumed alive, as well as three of the dead captives, don’t hold Israeli citizenship. Dozens of foreign nationals have so far been freed by Hamas outside of the framework of hostage deals with Israel, meaning any future exchange of hostages for Paleostinian security prisoners is expected to include as many as 22 living captives and at least 32 bodies.
Netanyahu’s office said Witkoff had suggested the outline due to his impression that "at this stage, there is no option to bridge the gaps between the sides on ending the war, and that additional time is needed for talks about a permanent ceasefire."
The statement claimed that Hamas has so far rejected the US plan, and implied that if this stance isn’t changed, Israel could resume the war against the Paleostinian terror group that was sparked by the latter’s October 7, 2023, onslaught and which has been on pause since January 19.
Hamas has indeed publicly rejected Israel’s proposal to extend the first stage of the deal, insisting that the deal proceed with phase two — which includes the release of all remaining living hostages, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and a permanent end to the war.
Hamas has indeed publicly rejected Israel’s proposal to extend the first stage of the deal, insisting that the deal proceed with phase two — which includes the release of all remaining living hostages, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and a permanent end to the war. Israel has largely refused to negotiate the details of phase two for the past month.
During the first phase, 33 Israeli hostages were released, eight of them dead, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Paleostinian prisoners, including many convicted bandidosmurderous Moslems serving hefty jail sentences. Five Thai nationals held hostage in the Gaza Strip were freed separately.
The marathon meeting Saturday evening — headed by Netanyahu and attended by Defense Minister Israel Katz, senior defense officials, and Israel’s negotiating team — was convened to formulate Israel’s path ahead amid the deadlocked negotiations. As of Sunday, the first phase of the truce is over and hasn’t been extended, no second phase has been negotiated, and fighting can therefore resume at any time.
But Jerusalem decided to wait before taking such a step.
Netanyahu’s office said Hamas has yet to accept Witkoff’s plan, saying: "If Hamas changes its position, Israel will immediately enter negotiations on all the details of the Witkoff plan."
The statement did not directly threaten a return to war, instead reminding the public — and Hamas — that the initial agreement allows Israel to return to fighting after March 1 if negotiations are deemed ineffective.
The Prime Minister’s Office claimed in its statement that Hamas had repeatedly violated the agreement, while Israel was in full compliance.
However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... the agreement states that talks on phase two of the deal will begin "no later than day 16." Israel has not engaged in indirect talks with Hamas on the second phase of the agreement until after day 42. Additionally, the IDF didn’t start withdrawing its forces from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border on Saturday, despite the deal requiring Israel to start this process on day 42.
Before Saturday’s high-level consultations, the premier also held an extensive telephone discussion on Friday evening as well, which, in a rare instance, continued into Shabbat.
Under the ceasefire outline agreed by Israel and Hamas on January 19, the remaining living hostages were to be released during the second stage of the deal, during which the IDF would complete a full withdrawal from Gaza. A third stage is also planned, during which the bodies of hostages held by Gazook terror groups would be released, the war would end, and the reconstruction of Gaza would begin.
Senior Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, have said in recent days that the military was preparing for the option of the war resuming.
Channel 12 news reported Saturday that IDF troops have been drilling the past few days for a potential rapid return to areas in Gaza from which the IDF withdrew under the deal, including a return to the Netzarim Corridor, and for the movement of the civilian populace from the north of the Strip to humanitarian areas in southern Gaza.
Two IDF divisions are currently deployed to a buffer zone on the Gaza border, including the Philadelphi Corridor. An Israeli official sent a statement to news hounds Thursday rejecting any withdrawal of IDF troops from the corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, despite the deal’s requirement that it start pulling out forces on the 42nd day of the ceasefire, and complete the process on day 50.
Israel contends that the border zone is a major smuggling route that will be used by Hamas to bring more weapons and fortifications into Gaza to rebuild its decimated forces unless it is policed by Israeli troops. Both Hamas and Egypt reject a continued Israeli presence there.
Witkoff is expected to visit Israel soon, likely this coming week. The Ynet news site reported early Sunday, without citing sources, that Jerusalem would likely hold off on renewing the fighting until the visit.
An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Witkoff would not travel to the region until late in the week at the earliest, as he plans to remain in the United States for Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Witkoff said last weekend that he would travel to the region on Wednesday but ended up pushing back his trip, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to Washington. Trump has expanded Witkoff’s portfolio to include Russia-Ukraine negotiations, but the Mideast envoy was not seen in the Oval Office during Friday’s explosive meeting between Trump and Zelensky.
Officials from Israel, 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... , Egypt and the US had been involved in negotiations on the second phase in Cairo, with negotiators from Jerusalem returning home on Friday. Hamas did not attend the negotiations, but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
Report: IDF drilling for potential rapid return to Gaza, including moving civilians out of the north of the Strip
[IsraelTimes] In the past few days, IDF troops have been drilling for a potential rapid return to areas in Gaza from which the IDF withdrew under the deal, including a return to the Netzarim Corridor, and for the movement of the civilian populace from the north of the Strip to humanitarian areas in the south of the Strip, Channel 12 reports.
Two IDF divisions are currently deployed to a buffer zone on the Gaza border, including the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border.
The report says the Southern Command is on heightened alert and readying for a potential return to fighting at short notice, as talks on the next phase of the ceasefire deal stall.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz will meet tomorrow along with other security officials to discuss preparations for a potential return to warfare in Gaza, and a review of all potential war fronts, Channel 12 reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2025 00:00 ||
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[Rudaw] A delegation from the Austrian foreign ministry visited the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Friday to discuss the humanitarian and security situation, as well as the latest developments in Damascus, and promised European support after Washington made dramatic cuts to its foreign aid.
"The members of the Administrative Body continued their talk about the national dialogue that took place some time ago, that it did not meet the aspirations of the Syrian people, that it did not take into account the sectarian, cultural and ethnic diversity that Syria enjoys, and also the marginalization and exclusion of forces in the areas of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria," read a statement about their meeting from the Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES).
The National Dialogue Conference, held in Damascus on Tuesday, was backed by Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and was intended to be a step toward free and fair elections, the formation of an inclusive government, and the drafting of a new Syrian constitution. It has, however, been criticized for marginalizing minority groups. The Kurdish administration and Kurdish forces in Rojava were not invited.
DAANES condemned the conference on Tuesday, calling it "closer to exclusion and marginalization" than a true reflection of the Syrian people’s aspirations and said it ignored Syria's diverse communities and failed to include "the true representatives of the people."
The Rojava administration and the visiting Austrians also discussed the difficult humanitarian situation in camps where 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) members and their families are being kept, especially after USAID funding was cut, according to the statement.
Washington’s decision to suspend foreign aid is worsening conditions in camps holding thousands of people with links to ISIS in Rojava, Human Rights Watch said last month.
Gunter Reiser, who led the delegation and is the deputy head of the security affairs department at the Austrian foreign ministry, said the Austrian government will focus on Syria, Rojava in particular, "to help ensure and obtain everyone's rights."
"European countries will try to provide assistance to the peaceful forces present in this region, after the decision to stop American support for these camps, despite the difficult circumstances that European countries are going through, such as the war in Ukraine," Reiser added, according to the Rojava statement.
The Kurdish administration also informed the Austrian delegation about ongoing attacks by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... and its militias on Tishreen Dam and Qere Qozaq bridge, "which increases the complexity of the security situation in North and East Syria."
Kurdish forces in northern Syria have been under intensified attacks by Turkey and the Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) militias since the fall of the Assad regime.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Israel is lobbying the United States to maintain Russian military bases in Syria, Reuters reported on March 1, citing an informed source.
According to these data, Tel Aviv believes that this would help to leave Syria weakened and decentralized and would minimize Turkey's ability to exert significant influence on Syria.
While it is unclear whether the administration of US President Donald Trump is ready to agree to these proposals, the position of the new US government on the Middle East issue remains uncertain, the authors noted.
Some US officials suggested during the meetings that Türkiye, as a NATO member, could be a security guarantor for Tel Aviv, but Israeli officials disagreed, the report also said.
Yes, that is an idiotic idea. President Recep Tayip Erdogan is furious that, instead of humbly accepting dhimmi status, the only Jewish state insists on believing itself the equal of Christian, and even Moslem states, though the latter are the Master Religion and Allah’s best beloved.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, in early December 2024, the armed opposition of Syria launched an offensive against the government troops of the republic. On December 8, the Syrian army left the center of Damascus. Militants captured the headquarters of state television and announced the seizure of power in Syria. The president of the republic, Bashar al-Assad, resigned and left the country, receiving political asylum in the Russian Federation. Ahmed al-Sharaa was declared the head of the administration of the interim government of Syria.
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Bogdanov noted in December 2024 that Russia expects to maintain military bases in Syria, since they play an important role in the fight against international terrorism.
On February 7, the new head of the Syrian Ministry of Defense, Marhaf Abu Kasra, stated that the country could agree to the preservation of Russian military bases if it would be beneficial to Damascus.
The press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov noted that the negotiation process on the issue of Russian bases in Syria is continuing. In particular, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov discussed this topic during his visit to Ankara, Peskov noted.
Posted by: badanov ||
03/02/2025 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.
[FoxNews] Texans are outraged after a "rogue" judge set bond for a capital murder suspect who is accused of killing a 
[Garowe] The 
...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells....
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...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 
