Betcha as long as the Sir Keir Starmer government is in office that extra power will be used against populist anti-government protests and probably pro-Israel/pro-Jewish protests as well. But not against Red/Black/Green pro-Hamas/anti-Israel protests.
[IsraelTimes] After deadly Manchester terror attack, British home secretary says freedom of speech must be balanced with others’ freedom to live in safety
British police will be given powers to restrict repeat protests in the same place, the government said on Sunday, after the latest pro-Paleostinian and anti-Israel demonstration went ahead Saturday despite requests to cancel it in the wake of a deadly attack at a synagogue.
The new powers will allow senior coppers to consider the cumulative impact of previous protests on a local community, the interior ministry said.
"The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country," UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said. "However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbors to live their lives without fear."
Mahmood is also due to review the police’s existing powers to ensure they are sufficient and consistently applied, including powers to ban protests outright, the ministry said.
"Large, repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and scared to leave their homes," Mahmood said.
"This has been particularly evident in relation to the considerable fear within the Jewish community, which has been expressed to me on many occasions in these recent difficult days."
Questioned by a BBC television interviewer about the Jewish community’s repeated warnings about the dangers they face, Mahmood admitted she was "very worried about the state of community relations in our country."
The home secretary added, speaking to Times Radio, that there was a broad "problem of a rise not only in antisemitism but in other forms of hatred as well."
"There are clearly malign and dark forces running amok across our country," she said.
Two people were murdered in Manchester on Thursday on Yom Kippur, the holiest day for Jews, and police rubbed out the terrorist, a British man of Syrian descent who officials said may have been inspired by hard boy Islamist ideology.
On Saturday, police arrested almost 500 people in central London in the latest protest in support of Paleostine Action, a group that was banned in July after members broke into an airbase and damaged military planes.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had urged the protest’s organizers to call it off out of respect for the grief of British Jews.
Three people who were seriously injured in Manchester remain hospitalized, including one who is also believed to have been accidentally hit by police fire.
Counter-terrorism police have been granted more time to detain four people arrested on suspicion of terrorism-linked offenses over the incident.
The UK has seen repeated pro-Paleostinian and anti-Israel demonstrations since the deadly Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas 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... .
#1
Same ploy as the Biden Autopen claimed that they needed more law/power to stem the foreign invasion instead of just enforcing the existing laws on the books.
Versus hundreds of thousands who usually protest Israel’s existence over there.
[IsraelTimes] After a terror attack at the Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur left two dead and four seriously injured, memorial events blame government inaction as they remember the fallen
British Jews gathered on Sunday to mark two years since the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... massacres in southern Israel with anger, sadness, and defiance in ceremonies that were heightened by the shock of the deadly terror attack on a synagogue over the Yom Kippur holiday.
Participants lamented that the wave of antisemitism unleashed after the Hamas attack and subsequent war in Gazoo had been left unchecked in the UK, where rabid anti-Israel and antisemitic protests have become regular events.
In Manchester, where a knifeman assaulted congregants on Thursday at the Heaton Park Synagogue in an attack that left two dead and four seriously injured, thousands gathered under the banner, "We are not Jews with trembling knees."
In London, Keith Black, chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, told a crowd of some 3,000 gathered at Trafalgar Square that "antisemitism in this country is out of control."
"Our streets have been filled with protesters screaming Jew hatred, our students have faced relentless waves of abuse on campus," Black said.
"A new concept called ’ambient antisemitism’ has entered our vocabulary, a prevailing undercurrent across society, across a society that has turned against Israel, in consequence, against us as Jews," he added.
The rally came a day after nearly 500 people were arrested Saturday at a pro-Paleostinian, anti-Israel protest, also held in London’s Trafalgar Square. In the aftermath of that event, the British government granted local police forces the power to restrict repeat protests in the same place, recognizing the cumulative impact of protests on a local community.
In a video message, British-Israeli Emily Damari, who was kidnapped by Hamas Lions of Islam on October 7 and held hostage in Gaza for 471 days, urged the crowd "to use your voice" to secure the hostages’ release, adding: "We can never give up on them."
Another survivor, Shaun Lemel, who had been at the Nova Festival, recalled the day "everything changed" within minutes when things went from "an epic music festival to the most horrific battlefield."
"At 6:18 a.m., I was dancing and having the time of my life. At 6:29 a.m., the music stopped," Lemel said.
DEFIANCE IN MANCHESTER Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, the enormous newt was trying to decide if Gloria was edible... in Manchester, more than a thousand people attended the ceremony outside the Manchester Cathedral on a chilly, rainy day, as bolstered security forces guarded a crowd still fearful after two members of their community were murdered days earlier.
After a six-minute rampage Thursday morning outside the synagogue, police rubbed out the terrorist, a British man of Syrian descent who counterterrorism police said may have been inspired by bully boy Islamist ideology. The attacker was on bail over an alleged rape, but had not been charged.
"Being Jewish in the UK over the last two years has been a very lonely place. We have been screaming about the abuse we were suffering in all sections of society, and we were largely ignored," Marc Levy, chief executive of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester, said. "There are no words that will comfort their families, but I hope the fact that we are all here united will resonate and provide some comfort to them."
Raphi Bloom, a prominent community member who attends Heaton Park Synagogue, blamed Prime Minister Keir Starmer for emboldening Hamas by recognizing Paleostinian statehood last month.
"For two years, our community has faced unprecedented Jew hatred," including assault, vandalism, and marches that made city centers effectively off-limits for Jews, Bloom said.
Never has Jewish life in the UK been as uncertain, and it is not an exaggeration to say that our government’s demonization of Israel and inaction and failure in tackling [antisemitism] has played a significant part in allowing this Jew hatred to flourish and to make many British Jews question in our country," he said.
"When you fail to act on constant calls to globalize the intifada, the results are that the intifada came to our Manchester Jewish community with horrific consequences," Bloom concluded.
TROUBLE BREWING FOR BRITISH JEWS
The feelings expressed at the rally were highlighted by a study published ahead of the second anniversary of the October 7 massacre by the UK-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) which, found that 82 percent of British Jews now consider antisemitism a "significant" problem and nearly half described it as "very big," compared to just 11% a decade earlier.
The survey of 4,800 adult British Jews conducted in June and July 2025 found that nearly one-third of Jews experienced at least one antisemitic incident in 2024, and 35% rated their safety between 0—4 on a 10-point scale. Trust in UK institutions, political parties and media is poor, and 45% said they experience "ambient antisemitism" — hostile media coverage, online comments, and microaggressions — "frequently" or "regularly."
Increases were noted in levels of Zionist and Jewish identity, but younger Jews are increasingly critical of Israel, and disagreements about Israel’s military actions in Gaza have exacerbated communal tensions, the report found.
[NYPOST] Exiled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was hospitalized recently after being poisoned while hiding out in Russia, according to a human rights watchdog. Got a little too much polonium in his diet, did he?
al-Assad, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was rushed to an emergency room on Sept. 20 in critical condition, but was released nine days later after receiving medical care, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights first reported Thursday. "It appears you got thirteen years of Chemo in one dose. You might die, but it won't be from cancer"
He was poisoned while at home in a villa near Moscow that the report claims is heavily guarded by Russian authorities.
His movements are restricted, but al-Assad has had many visitors to the villa.
''Whether the poisoning was a result of confusion or more, no one knows,'' reads the report. ''When Bashar al-Assad was admitted to the hospital, he was admitted in an emergency room and in critical condition in intensive care in a private hospital in or near the Moscow suburbs.
That’s nice. Will they blame and punish Hamas when the deal falls through, or will they lean on Israel even more?
[GEO.TV] Germany will "decisively commit" to implementing US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... 's Middle East peace plan, calling it a "unique opportunity", Berlin's foreign minister said ahead of a visit to 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 Kuwait.
"For the swift implementation of the American plan ... rapid international cooperation is necessary," said Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, calling the proposal a "unique opportunity" ahead of the expected start of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... Wadephul said Berlin would be making "concrete offers" as a "partner for humanitarian aid, stabilisation and reconstruction" 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... The region as a whole requires stabilisation "with lasting security for all, (with) a political perspective for the Paleostinians and finally the normalisation of relations between all states with Israel," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2025 00:00 ||
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[Breitbart] Federal immigration agents in Chicago faced two vehicular assaults in a single day—the second taking place in Bensenville—when an illegal alien rammed an ICE vehicle and fled into a residence. The incident underscores what DHS officials say is a “1000 percent spike” in attacks and a growing climate of lawlessness fueled by Illinois’s sanctuary policies.
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded to a video posted on social media, purportedly showing an assault on ICE agents, in which ten vehicles were boxed in by an ICE vehicle, and a woman displayed a semi-automatic weapon, prompting officers to open fire. The secretary said the video actually depicts a second vehicular assault on federal law enforcement agents in a single day.
Breitbart Texas reported on one attack, where a group of organized anti-ICE activists surrounded and rammed a federal law enforcement vehicle in the Chicago suburb of Broadview. DHS officials report that two additional attacks occurred in nearby Bensenville and Norridge, Illinois.
“Criminal illegal aliens weaponized their vehicles in deliberate attempts to ram and injure officers carrying out their sworn duty to uphold our nation’s immigration laws,” DHS officials reported.
“Thankfully, none of our law enforcement officers were killed because of these deranged criminals’ attacks on law enforcement. This is exactly what happens when Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson, and other sanctuary politicians demonize ICE and encourage illegal aliens to resist law enforcement,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Our ICE law enforcement is facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults—including cars—being used as weapons against them. Secretary Noem has been clear: anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Officials said the back-to-back vehicular assaults highlight the dangers faced by federal law enforcement officials attempting to remove violent criminal aliens from American neighborhoods.
In the Norridge incident, Miguel Escareno De Loera, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, rammed his vehicle into an ICE law enforcement vehicle twice, officials stated. His violent assault on the federal agents came to an end when he crashed his car into a stop sign. Agents arrested Escareno De Loera and subsequently learned that he illegally entered the United States at an unknown place and time.
The Bensenville incident involved a Guatemalan illegal alien, Widman Osberto Lopez-Funes. Officials report that Lopez-Funes rammed his vehicle into ICE agents during an enforcement operation. He later fled to a residence in Benseville. Officials say he also entered the U.S. illegally between ports of entry at an unknown place and time.
Both men now face federal charges for assault on federal agents.
Following the three vehicular assaults, Texas Governor Greg Abbott offered the services of his National Guard to help restore order in the lawless sanctuary city of Chicago, Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark reported.
#4
Have the southern counties in Illinois and the eastern and northern counties in California hold a secession convention and apply for recognition as separate states, like West Virginia.
[IsraelTimes] Protesters to hold citywide rally to ‘resist for Palestine’ on anniversary of Hamas massacre
Anti-Israel activists in New York City have announced mass rallies scheduled for Tuesday, the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, terror invasion of Israel.
Within Our Lifetime, the leading anti-Israel activist group on the city’s streets, announced a plan to "Flood New York City for 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... The activists often dub their rallies "floods," echoing the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... name for the October 2023 attack, the "Al Aqsa Flood."
"Honor our deaders. Break the siege. End the genocide. Resist for Paleostine," Within Our Lifetime announced in its plan for a citywide rally, centered in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon.
Activist groups across the City University of New York (CUNY) public system, including campus chapters of Students for Justice in Paleostine, have announced student walkouts to protest for Gaza on Tuesday.
The student groups plan to join the Within Our Lifetime rally after leaving class.
Announcements for the student walkout were marked with inverted red triangles, a symbol Hamas uses to mark its targets in its promotional videos.
"Over 600,000 dead,
…Hamas itself only claims 67,000 deaths…
CUNY your hands are red," the announcements said, adding more than half a million deaths to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry’s reported toll.
Within Our Lifetime and National Students for Justice in Paleostine backed the Hamas attack the day it happened.
Anti-Israel rallies marking the Hamas attack were announced in several other US cities, including the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... , Tampa and Boston, as well as Toronto, Canada.
Jewish groups in New York City are also holding several events to commemorate the attack, some of which are being kept under wraps ahead of time for security reasons. Chabad of the Upper East Side will host a celebratory event because October 7 falls on the first day of the Sukkot holiday, saying the group plans "dancing for those who can no longer dance, celebrating the holiday and traditions for those who no longer can."
At Columbia University, the pro-Israel groups DiploAct, Let’s Do Something and Students Supporting Israel said they will set up 1,200 empty chairs across the campus on Monday, one for each of the Hamas attack’s victims, with photos of the dead on each seat.
Under the second annual Flags of Fellowship campaign by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), more than 1,300 churches, synagogues and universities across all 50 states are each displaying 1,200 flags in honor of the 1,200 people killed that day.
The campaign, which runs October 2-8, kicked off with a ceremony at Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the most affected communities in the Gaza envelope, where nearly a quarter of the community’s residents were killed or taken captive by Hamas. The ceremony saw the placement of the first 1,200 flags in commemoration of the 1,200 people murdered during the October 7th massacre.
The international campaign launched with a gathering on October 5th at the World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with its congregation of 10,000 pro-Israel activists.
“Every one of these flags carries a simple and sacred truth: Am Yisrael is not alone,” said IFCJ President Yael Eckstein, using a Hebrew term for the Jewish people.
NYU reinstates Oct. 7 Federalist Society event after backlash
[IsraelTimes] New York University has reinstated an event scheduled for Tuesday, the second anniversary of the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, after facing backlash for canceling the talk.
NYU’s law school canceled the event, featuring speakers from the conservative Federalist Society, last week, citing “security concerns” related to expected protests.
The cancellation, first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, drew criticism, including from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a prominent free speech group.
FIRE condemned the cancellation as “a textbook heckler’s veto.”
The Federalist Society says the event is back on schedule.
The live-streamed talk will focus on campus free speech, campus antisemitism, and the significance of the October 7 anniversary to Jews, the Federalist Society says.
[IsraelTimes] UK pop star says move ‘beyond our control’ as local authorities nix performance, scheduled for Oct. 7, after pro-Palestinian activists protest, call for him to be kicked out of Turkey
British singer Robbie Williams said city authorities called off his upcoming Istanbul concert “in the interests of public safety” after anti-Israel Turkish NGOs and social media users campaigned for the event to be cancelled and protested against his appearance, accusing him of being a “Zionist.”
The October 7 concert was scheduled to take place on the second anniversary of the Hamas-led invasion and massacres in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, and saw another 251 taken hostage, triggering the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
For days, Turkish social media accounts and pro-Gaza NGOs had been calling for the event at the Atakoy Marina to be scrapped, accusing Williams of being “Zionist.”
The Islamic Solidarity Platform had planned protests under the slogan “Zionist Robbie Williams, get out of Turkey!”
The 51-year-old singer has faced renewed scrutiny in predominantly Muslim Turkey over his family’s Jewish heritage and his 2015 performance in Israel, which drew criticism from pro-Palestinian groups.
Williams was raised Catholic but is married to American-Turkish actress Ayda Field, who is Jewish, as are their four children.
He gave another concert in Israel in 2023, during which he told the audience that he was raising his children Jewish “to keep some of the traditions going in the family, just out of respect to you guys and their history” and also revealed a tattoo on his wrist with the word “simcha” (happiness in Hebrew).
Bubilet, the ticketing company, said it had canceled the concert at the request of the Istanbul Governor’s Office. The governor’s office was not immediately available for comment.
Williams wrote on Instagram late on Saturday that the safety of his fans “comes first,” adding he was deeply sorry for the cancellation, which he said was “beyond our control.”
“To end this epic run of dates in front of my Turkish fans was my dream, given the close connections my family have with this wonderful country,” Williams said.
The cancellation came a month after Turkish authorities banned a concert of Enrico Macias, a French singer of Algerian-Jewish origin, after calls for protest over his pro-Israel stance. Macias, who was born into a Jewish family in Algeria, has on several occasions defended Israel’s response to Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023, attack.
Israeli and pro-Israel cultural figures have also faced hostility elsewhere in Europe as criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and the humanitarian crisis there, has mounted.
[Breitbart] Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) confirmed Sunday that 400 Texas National Guard soldiers will be deployed to Illinois and other sanctuary states under a federal directive from President Trump, igniting a fierce interstate clash. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) denounced the move as “Trump’s Invasion” and called for immediate withdrawal.
Governor Abbott confirmed a plan by President Trump to send Texas Army National Guard soldiers to Illinois and other parts of the country to protect federal law enforcement officials. The move, confirmed by Abbott in a social media post on Sunday, drew criticism from Illinois Governor Pritzker, who asked Abbott to refuse.
Pritzker issued a statement on Sunday condemning the plan to send the contingent of Texas soldiers to his state, saying, “We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.”
“I call on Governor Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to coordinate,” Pritzker continued. “There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott wasted no time responding to Pritzker’s request to refuse coordination with President Trump’s plan in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday evening. Abbott’s post read, “I fully authorized the President to call up 400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officials. You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let (the) Texas Guard do it.”
Abbott added, “No Guard can match the training, skill, and expertise of the Texas National Guard. They defend our country with pride. America must also know that Texas still has thousands of National Guard assisting with the Border security.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth sent a memorandum through Governor Abbott’s office to the Texas National Guard Adjutant General requesting coordination of the effort to mobilize up to 400 soldiers citing violent incidents and credible threats of continued violence that are impeding the execution of the laws of the United States in Illinois, Oregon, and other parts of the country as the impetus for the request.
A portion of the Texas soldiers’ group will be deployed to address safety concerns in Portland, Oregon. As reported by Breitbart News, Texas National Guard soldiers will protect ICE facilities in the state after a federal judge on Saturday barred President Trump from using the Oregon and California National Guard to protect the facilities.
The deployment of Texas National Guard soldiers to Illinois comes on the heels of recent clashes between anti-ICE protesters who have laid siege to a federal facility in Broadview, Illinois and federal agents attempting to protect the ICE detention facility.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, on Saturday, ICE agents were ambushed and boxed in by ten vehicles during a routine patrol in Broadview, just outside of Chicago. Trump administration officials are calling the incident a coordinated act of domestic terrorism.
One armed suspect was shot after ramming a patrol car and confronting federal law enforcement officers with a semi-automatic weapon. According to authorities, the person had been previously flagged for inciting violence against law enforcement online.
The spate of increased violent protests and attacks on federal immigration officials in Chicago comes as the Trump administration ramps up deportation operations in the in the area. As part of Operation Midway Blitz, a contingent of Border Patrol agents from across the country is working in concert with other federal agencies in Chicago to target specific areas known for illegal alien criminal activity.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the Border Patrol has increased marine operations along riverfront areas in the downtown Chicago area to assist federal officials in immigration enforcement operations as well.
The Department of Homeland Security Launched Operation Midway Blitz in early September in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run car wreck caused by criminal illegal alien Julio Cucul-Bol in Illinois. According to a DHS announcement, the operation targets the criminal illegal aliens who arrived in Chicago and other parts of Illinois because of sanctuary policies that would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.
Bay Resistance, a social justice nonprofit created during the first Trump administration, organized the Sunday event, which included a series of training sessions to teach people how to protect one another amid the threat of mass deportations and a possible National Guard deployment in San Francisco or Oakland.
#3
Sanctuary cities and states? Sanctuary for who from whom. Sure as hell no sanctuary for the regular citizens who live in these Dem-created hell-holes.
[JustTheNews] “FEMA will rescind the funding hold upon its review and approval of the State’s methodology and population certification,” the notice said, according to CNN.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency preparedness funding to U.S. states and issued a requirement that states recount their population figures with individuals who have been deported not included in the final tally.
Emergency Management Performance Grants support disaster-readiness efforts, including training, staffing, equipment, and community outreach.
CNN reported that states began receiving notices Tuesday that they must now submit a population certification as of September 30.
[Reason] After a video of his arrest by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents went viral in June, Afghan Sayed Naser was released on September 26 following 106 days of detention.
On July 17, Naser's attorney Brian McGoldrick filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus requesting his immediate release. McGoldrick argued that "attempts to detain, transfer, and deport [Naser] are arbitrary and capricious and in violation of the law."
According to court documents shared with Reason, the government opposed the petition, but Judge Gonzalo Curiel of the Southern District of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, scheduled a hearing of Naser's habeas petition on September 25. McGoldrick told Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, that during the hearing, Curiel was "very inquisitive" and sounded "very friendly to our position."
On September 26, Curiel put out a summarized opinion ordering Naser's immediate release. Curiel found that Naser "could not have been legally subjected to and detained" given his status at the time of his arrest, and that by revoking Naser's parole without providing notification, the government had denied "his due process rights."
“I still believe in America. I do not feel betrayed. I feel hopeful because of how many Americans stood up for me when I was arrested.”
In an October 2 presser, McGoldrick said that Naser was released at 9:45 p.m. last Friday, and added, "we've been celebrating ever since." Naser expressed gratitude for all the Americans who supported his case, telling assembled press that his time in detention was "the hardest piece of my life." "I thought that the time is stopped," Naser said, adding that every day felt "like a month."
When asked if his ordeal had changed his mind about wanting to be an American citizen, Naser replied, "I still believe in America. I do not feel betrayed. I feel hopeful because of how many Americans stood up for me when I was arrested."
McGoldrick also expressed gratitude for Naser's supporters, particularly the volunteers who filmed Naser's arrest, saying that without their documentation, "nobody would know what happened."
Following Naser's release, Curiel has restored the terms of the parole Naser received when he legally entered the U.S. through the CBP One App in July 2024. Curiel has also ordered that "Respondents shall not cause [Naser] to be re-detained during the pendency of his removal proceedings without prior leave of this Court."
Now, Naser and McGoldrick must return to square one and prepare his asylum claim once more before a new judge in San Diego immigration court.
The Taliban ...Arabic for students... murdered Naser's brother in 2023. A Special Immigrant Visa applicant who had worked with U.S. forces for two years during the Afghanistan War, Naser fled to Brazil in April 2024 and made his way to the U.S.-Mexico border. Like many parolees who utilized the CBP One App to claim asylum, Naser was told that his parole was revoked in a letter from the Department of Homeland Security in April.
It was after presenting his asylum case in immigration court in June that Naser was arrested. The government said that Naser's notice to appear had been "improvidently issued," but provided no further information about their allegation. On June 26, a federal judge dismissed Naser's asylum case, which placed him in expedited removal proceedings.
While Naser's release is a positive development, McGoldrick said he is now representing another Afghan, Habib, who is currently in ICE custody.
Like Naser, Habib had entered the U.S. on parole in 2024. McGoldrick says that Habib had received work authorization and had filed an asylum claim when he was arrested on September 19. McGoldrick explained that Habib had been performing a delivery at a U.S. military base in California when base personnel noticed that he had a limited license.
According to McGoldrick, base personnel called military police to the scene, and Habib was told that he could not depart the base until ICE arrived and took him into custody.
Habib has a wife and two young children. With no money coming in, McGoldrick reports that Habib's wife cannot afford rent and is facing eviction. McGoldrick is working pro bono on Habib's case and filed a habeas petition for his release on September 29.
After Naser's release, VanDiver noted that while the judicial system has been successful in achieving assistance for Afghans in detention, the U.S. cannot go about rectifying "just one case at a time. We need Congress, companies, and citizens to step up."
[IsraelTimes] Saudi-owned Al Arabiya reports that dozens of heavy Egyptian vehicles entered the Gaza Strip starting yesterday and began establishing temporary displacement camps in the center of the Strip.
According to the report, the camps are being set up in an area near the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
The move is intended, the report says, “to ease the suffering of displaced Palestinians and prevent their expulsion [outside the Strip].”
The channel further reports that other Egyptian vehicles also entered from Egypt to clear rubble and facilitate movement along roads in the Strip after the extensive destruction caused by the war.
Tens of thousands of Gazans are currently living in tents after their homes were destroyed during the conflict.
It should be noted that as part of Egypt’s plan to end the war, which was presented in early 2025, Egypt sought to establish temporary housing for Gazans inside the Strip itself in order to prevent the displacement of the population outside of Gaza.
[IsraelTimes] Some 70 flotilla activists expected to leave for Greece, where they will be able to catch flights to their home countries; Activist bites prison staff member, delaying deportation
Swedish activist Greta "Pippi" Thunberg ...an autistic sixteen year old Swedish expert on climate change, though I guess she's older now... will be among more than 70 people of different nationalities to leave Israel on Monday after they were seized aboard an intercepted 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... aid flotilla.
Most, if not all, those being released from Israeli detention will be flown to Greece, where they will be able to get flights to their home countries, their respective governments said on Sunday.
Those flying out of Israel on Monday include 28 French citizens, 27 Greeks, 15 Italians, and nine Swedes.
Twenty-one Spaniards separately returned to Spain on Sunday from Israel.
The release still leaves several foreigners in Israeli custody, including 28 Spanish nationals.
All had been on board the 42-vessel Global Sumud Flotilla carrying activists and politicians, who had been aiming to get past an Israeli blockade to deliver aid to Gaza, where the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... says famine has taken hold — a charge that Israel rejects.
Israel started intercepting the ships in international waters on Wednesday, detaining the more than 470 people who had been aboard the boats.
The Italian and Greek foreign ministries said their released nationals would on Monday fly from Israel to Athens. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on X that the 15 Italians would have assistance for a subsequent transfer to Italia.
La Belle France’s foreign ministry said the 28 French citizens would be flown to Greece. They accounted for most of the 30 Frenchies Israel seized aboard the flotilla.
The Swedish foreign ministry did not say where the Swedes would fly to, but Swedish media said they, too, could be put on the flight to Greece.
The plane carrying the deported activists to Greece will take off from southern Israel’s Ramon Airport and land in Athens.
In total, 170 flotilla activists have been deported so far. Those who remain are being held in Ketziot prison, in what their legal representation has described as substandard conditions.
On Sunday evening, a Spanish activist caused a stir in the prison by biting a medical staff member, prison staff said.
They said she bit the staff member while being escorted from a routine medical examination, as part of preparations for her deportation, which was initially scheduled for tomorrow morning, but has since been pushed back.
The medical staff member was treated in the prison for minor injuries, and police were called to the scene to handle the activist.
The incident was reported to have delayed the activist’s deportation, as she was taken for questioning and is due to appear before a court on Monday.
[IsraelTimes] Four hard-left French lawmakers who were detained by Israel after taking part in a Gaza-bound flotilla have declared a hunger strike, their party says.
“We have no news from them,” apart from “brief exchanges with their lawyers and with the French consul who was able to visit them,” France Unbowed member of European Parliament Manon Aubry tells French radio station Franceinfo.
“Their detention conditions are difficult,” she adds, describing that more than 10 people are in each cell and have difficulty accessing water.
France Unbowed says two of its national deputies, Francois Piquemal and Marie Mesmeur, and two of its MEPs, Rima Hassan and Emma Fourreau, declared a hunger strike “in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Aubry calls on French authorities to repatriate their nationals.
“It is time for France to finally take action,” Aubry says, echoing her party’s national coordinator Manuel Bompard’s calls for “France to finally say something” on French television channel LCI.
France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon on Saturday slammed “the cowards of the French government,” pointing out that detained nationals from several other countries have already been returned home from Israel.
Meanwhile, “(French) deputies are ignored by their assemblies. Let us all remember this,” he wrote on X.
Former Macron minister and current MEP Nathalie Louiseau says France is providing consular protection and calls France Unbowed’s involvement in the flotilla “troubling.”
“Is it really to shed light on the Palestinians and their suffering in Gaza, or is it a self-promotion effort? I’m afraid the latter is the case,” she tells French channel France 3.
#4
The Chinese acupuncture therapist also participated in the global march to the Gaza Strip this past June - which was stopped by authorities in Cairo before reaching its destination. She’s working on her work-life balance.
[IsraelTimes] Source says terror group to fight for release of life-termers ‘even at the cost of dooming the deal,’ wants deeper initial IDF withdrawal and is working to ensure PA role in ‘day-after’ Gaza
Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... is set to demand the release of some of the most notorious Paleostinian terrorists, whom Israel has refused to set free, in talks set to start in Egypt on Monday to finalize the return of all Israeli hostages in the first phase of US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... ’s plan to end 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... Citing Hamas sources, Channel 12 reported that among the turbans Hamas is demanding are Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah Tanzim chief serving five life sentences for his part in planning three terror attacks that killed five Israelis during the Second Intifada, and Ahmad Sa’adat, leader of the Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP), who was sentenced in 2008 to 30 years behind bars for criminal masterminding the 2001 liquidation of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi.
Hamas was also demanding the release of Ibrahim Hamed, serving 45 life terms for orchestrating the killings of numerous Israelis as Hamas’s West Bank commander during the Second Intifada, Abbas al-Sayed, who orchestrated the 2002 bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya in which 39 Israelis were killed, and Hamas’s Hassan Salameh, who is serving 48 life terms for plotting multiple suicide kabooms.
Channel 12 cited a Hamas source saying the terror group "won’t give up" on securing the release of these and other life-term terrorists, even at the cost of dooming the deal."
There are currently 303 security prisoners serving life sentences in Israel.
In a separate, unsourced report, the network said Hamas is also demanding that Israel release turbans from Hamas’s elite Nukhba force, who took part in the terror group’s October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre — a demand Israel has consistently rejected.
Speaking to Channel 12, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter — a cabinet minister and former Shin Bet chief — appeared to indicate that Israel would be willing to release the convicted terrorists, but raised doubts about freeing those involved in the October 7 invasion.
Dichter noted that in the past Israel had freed some of the most notorious terrorists, including Hamas’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was twice released in deals. In 1985, Israel traded him and 1,150 other security prisoners for three captured IDF soldiers. He was later rearrested. In 1997, he was released as part of a deal in exchange for two Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... officers captured in Jordan while trying to kill Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
"I twice brought him to jail and once to the end of his life," said Dichter, who was Shin Bet chief when Yassin was assassinated in an IAF helicopter strike in 2004.
Dichter said that while there was precedent for releasing convicted terrorists, those who participated in the October 7 massacre had not yet been tried for their crimes.
"It’s a different story," he said.
According to the Hamas sources cited by Channel 12, the terror group also wants guarantees that there will ultimately be a full IDF withdrawal from Gaza, with a timetable; and that the IDF’s initial withdrawal be larger than the one shown in a map issued by Trump on Sunday. Hamas was said to be demanding a withdrawal to the lines where the IDF was deployed in January during the last ceasefire.
Paleostinian sources close to the negotiations were cited by the Kan public broadcaster saying that Hamas’s top priority was the depth and timeline of the IDF withdrawal, while long-term issues such as the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip were on the back burner for the terror group.
Channel 12 further reported that the Hamas negotiating team under Khalil al-Hayya will hold simultaneous talks with a Paleostinian Authority team, as it seeks to ensure that the initial mechanism for "day-after" Gaza includes the PA.
The report noted a statement by PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> on Saturday promising PA reforms, including the formulation of a temporary constitution within three months and elections within a year. According to Channel 12, Abbas would permit Hamas to contest those elections only if it accepts Israel’s right to exist.
Under Trump’s plan, the PA — which Israel accuses of incitement to terrorism in its schools and through payments to turbans — would take control of Gaza only after it "has completed its reform program." Until then, the plan stipulates that the Strip will be governed by an international transitional "Board of Peace" led by Trump.
The US president announced his plan on Monday in a joint presser with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who endorsed the proposal. Trump accepted Hamas’s response on Friday, which said the terror group agreed to the hostage-prisoner exchange formula set out in the plan and was willing to immediately hash out the details with mediators.
The formula would see Hamas release the remaining 48 hostages within 72 hours, in exchange for 250 life-term Paleostinian prisoners; 1,700 Gazooks detained since the October 7 massacre, which sparked the Gaza war; and the remains of 15 slain Gazooks in exchange for each deceased hostage, of whom there are at least 26, according to the IDF.
Hamas’s response said the release of the hostages would be subject to "field conditions," and has indicated that returning the buried, slain hostages within 72 hours could be difficult due to IDF presence.
[Jpost] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday held his first working meeting with newly-approved Shin Bet Director David Zini.
The Shin Bet's main responsibilities are fighting Palestinian terror, fighting violent Jewish extremism against Palestinians, fighting attempts by Iran to recruit spies within Israel, and protecting Israeli democracy. The reason Israeli Left opposed Zini's appointment so much is that his first job is supposed to be founding a Shin Bet unit to investigate foreign financing of Israeli Left.
Zini was previously a major-general in the IDF handling training and reservists issues since 2017.
Prior to 2017, Zini started his IDF career in the General Staff Reconnaisance Unit in 1992, later served in the Paratroopers Brigade, and then became a commander in the Golani Brigade, and the commander of the Egoz commando unit.
He continued in key posts in the Northern Command, including during the 2006 Second Lebanon War and commanded the 51st Battalion and the Egoz Unit at different points during the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict. He also briefly commanded the Golani Brigade during the 2014 Gaza conflict, including during the intense Shejaia battle, after its prior commander was wounded.
Next, he was the operations officer of the Central Command from 2014-2015, and formed and commanded the Oz Brigade, also known as the elite Commandos Brigade, from 2015-2017.
[GEO.TV] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... ''will be disarmed, either diplomatically via Trump's plan or militarily by us,'' as global pressure mounted for a ceasefire under the US president's proposal.
The statement came a day after Hamas announced its approval for the release of all hostages — both living and deceased — in exchange for prisoners held by Israel, as outlined in President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... 's plan.
Trump swiftly hailed Hamas's announcement as proof the group was ''ready for a lasting PEACE,'' urging Israel to halt its bombing campaign. But on Saturday, he warned Hamas to ''move quickly'' towards an agreement, ''or else all bets will be off.''
By evening, thousands had gathered in Tel Aviv, calling on Trump to ensure the deal goes through and the fighting ends.
[GEO.TV] Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Sunday that the Israeli army would continue its presence 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... even as the first phase of a US-backed peace plan moves toward implementation, Al Jazeera reported, citing Israeli media.
Katz added that once the plan is fully realised, Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... will be disarmed, the Gaza Strip will be demilitarised, and the IDF will remain in control of key areas to protect communities. He also said he expects the initial phase to begin ''in the near future.''
[GEO.TV] Negotiators are set to converge in Egypt's capital Cairo ahead of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of 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... , with Israel's leader expressing hope that the hostages still being held there would be released in a matter of days.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he had ordered negotiators to Egypt "to finalise the technical details", while Cairo confirmed it would also be hosting a delegation from Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... for talks on "the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Paleostinian prisoners".
Egyptian state-linked media had previously reported that the warring parties would hold indirect talks.
Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter wished he had thought to pack sun block... US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... has also dispatched two envoys to Egypt, according to the White House, sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his main Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.
The US president warned he would "not tolerate delay" from Hamas, urging the group to move quickly towards a deal "or else all bets will be off"
[IsraelTimes] Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aaty tells the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that “the handing over of Hamas’s weapons is an issue that must be addressed within a Palestinian framework.”
In the interview, he expresses hope that the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatus would assume the task of controlling Gaza after a transitional period, framing this as a political horizon toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Abdel Aaty also says that Egypt seeks to define the limits of authority for the international force expected to enter the Strip under the Trump plan, adding that eventually the same force would also need to enter the West Bank to link the two areas — Gaza and the West Bank — and to support the Palestinian Authority’s security mechanisms.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2025 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1758 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Go for it, guys. Lay down your arms and walk the hostages to the nearest IDF post.
[GEO.TV] A senior Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... official on Sunday said the Paleostinian resistance group is eager to reach an agreement to end the war and implement a prisoner swap with Israel, as negotiators converge in Egypt for talks.
Israeli and Hamas negotiators are set to iron out details during talks in Egypt in a bid to end nearly two years of 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... , after Hamas approved a peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... Hamas negotiators travelling from Doha are expected to arrive in Cairo on Sunday before heading to Sharm el-Sheikh to participate in indirect negotiations with the Israeli delegation, the official said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
"Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions," he said.
A Paleostinian source close to Hamas told AFP that the two delegations would be in the same building but away from media coverage.
[IsraelTimes] A Hamas source tells the Saudi channel Al-Arabiya that Hamas operatives in Gaza have begun collecting the bodies of the dead hostages across the Strip, and that the organization demands that Israel halt its aerial strikes so that they are able to complete the task.
According to the source, the transfer of the bodies will take some time, and there is American flexibility on this matter.
The report also says that Hamas has received American guarantees stipulating that Israel will not resume the war and will permanently withdraw IDF forces from the strip if the deal proceeds to its conclusion.
The sources claim that Hamas has agreed to hand over its weapons to a Palestinian–Egyptian body under international supervision.
The report also says it has been agreed that Hamas leaders can choose to leave Gaza if they so wish and will not be targeted by Israel.
The report has not been confirmed by any other source.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2025 00:00 ||
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[1840 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Still waiting, somehow I'm betting that Hamas will try to drag this out if indeed they actually do anything positive!
#2
Hamas will insist that Israel release the prisoners first. Then they will say they've changed their minds. Or they will kill all the hostages and claim they were trying to escape or something.
[NYPOST] President Trump announced Saturday that Israel has agreed to an ''initial withdrawal line'' 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... , adding a cease-fire and hostage exchange would begin once Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... confirms the deal.''
After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas,'' Trump posted on Truth Social, adding that the plan would mark ''the end of this 3,000-year catastrophe.''
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night in Israel that he ordered his negotiators, led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, to travel to Egypt to finalize the technical details of the hostage release.'
''Our goal is to limit the negotiations to just a few days. Trump made it clear: We will not tolerate stalling tactics or evasions,'' Netanyahu said.
Under the plan's first phase, Hamas would release hostages as Israeli troops redeploy while retaining control of ''dominant areas deep inside the strip,'' according to the Israeli prime minister.
Hamas would be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized in the second phase — by diplomacy or force, Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu credited coordination with Trump for isolating Hamas diplomatically, claiming Israeli military pressure brought the group to the table.
Start your day with all you need to know
Prior to Netanyahu's comments, Trump said that Israel had paused its bombing campaign in Gaza, calling the move a vital step toward completing a peace agreement with Hamas and freeing hostages — while warning that he ''will not tolerate delay.''
Trump praised what he described as Israel's decision to halt strikes, saying it gives ''the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed.''
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2025 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1765 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Yes get the IDF to withdraw from the borders of Gaza, and then some, so they won't be in harms way when the bombs start dropping.
🇮🇷🇺🇸✈️ - Iran has introduced the Shahed-149 Gaza, its most advanced combat drone yet, capable of long-endurance surveillance and precision strikes. With a turboprop engine, it can fly for 35 hours over a 2,500-mile range. While inspired by the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper, it is domestically… pic.twitter.com/FtO9xdt0Fo
Iran has introduced the Shahed-149 Gaza, its most advanced combat drone yet, capable of long-endurance surveillance and precision strikes. With a turboprop engine, it can fly for 35 hours over a 2,500-mile range. While inspired by the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper, it is domestically developed with features tailored to Iran’s strategic requirements.
[IsraelTimes] Iran’s parliament has approved a plan to remove four zeros from the national currency, the rial, which has sharply depreciated as the country grapples with renewed sanctions.
Lawmakers passed the bill two months after a parliamentary commission revived the long-stalled proposal aimed at simplifying transactions, the legislature’s website says.
Under the plan, 10,000 current rials will be replaced by one new rial. And a New Real™ will buy you 1 10,000th of an apple
Both versions will circulate for up to three years, with the central bank given two years to launch the transition.
The move still requires approval by the Guardian Council and the signature of President Masoud Pezeshkian to take effect.
The rial has hit repeated record lows in recent days, according to black market trackers, amid the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran. It is currently trading at about 1,115,000 to the US dollar.
In daily life, Iranians drop a zero from the rial and use the resulting figure, called the toman, for most transactions.
[IsraelTimes] Assembly’s formation expected to consolidate power of al-Sharaa, who appoints a third of the new lawmakers; Jewish candidate vying for seat for first time since 1940s
Local committees in Syria cast their ballots for members of a transitional parliament in a process criticized as undemocratic, with a third of the new politicians to be appointed directly by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The assembly’s formation is expected to consolidate the power of Sharaa, whose Islamist forces led a coalition that toppled longtime ruler Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... in December after more than 13 years of civil war.
Members of the local committees lined up to vote at Syria’s National Library, formerly the Assad National Library, with preliminary results set to be announced on Sunday night.
The electoral commission said in the evening that "the voting has ended and the counting is underway." The final list of winners is due on Monday.
Around 6,000 people took part in Sunday’s selection process.
According to the commission, more than 1,500 candidates — just 14 percent of them women — are running for the assembly, which will have a renewable 30-month mandate.
Sharaa is to appoint 70 representatives to the 210-member body.
The other two-thirds are being selected by local committees appointed by the electoral commission, which itself was appointed by Sharaa.
But southern Syria’s Druze-majority Sweida province, which suffered sectarian bloodshed in July, and the country’s Kurdish-held northeast are excluded from the process for now as they are outside Damascus’s control, and their 32 seats will remain empty.
"I support the authorities and I’m ready to defend them, but these aren’t real elections," said Louay al-Arfi, 77, a retired civil servant sitting with friends at a Damascus cafe.
"It’s a necessity in the transitional phase, but we want direct elections" to follow, he told AFP.
The new authorities dissolved Syria’s rubber-stamp legislature after taking power.
Under a temporary constitution announced in March, the incoming parliament will exercise legislative functions until a permanent constitution is adopted and new elections are held.
Sharaa has said it would be impossible to organize direct elections now, pointing to the large number of Syrians who lack documentation after millions fled abroad or were displaced internally during the civil war.
Speaking from the National Library on Sunday, Sharaa appeared to acknowledge criticism of the process, saying that while "it is true that the electoral process is incomplete... it is a moderate process that is appropriate for the current situation and circumstances in Syria."
’NOT ELECTIONS’
Under the rules of the selection process, candidates must not be "supporters of the former regime" and must not promote secession or partition.
Those running include Syrian-American Henry Hamra, the first Jewish candidate since the 1940s.
"The next parliament faces significant responsibilities, including signing and ratifying international agreements. This will lead Syria into a new phase, and it is a major responsibility," said Hala al-Qudsi, a member of Damascus’s electoral committee who is running for a seat herself.
Rights groups have criticized the selection process, saying it concentrates power in Sharaa’s hands and lacks representation for the country’s ethnic and religious minorities.
In a joint statement last month, more than a dozen groups said the process means Sharaa "can effectively shape a parliamentary majority composed of individuals he selected or ensured loyalty from."
"You can call the process what you like, but not elections," said Bassam Alahmad, executive director of the La Belle France-based Syrians for Truth and Justice, one of the groups that signed the statement.
At a meeting in Damascus this week, candidate Mayssa Halwani, 48, said such criticism was normal.
"The government is new to power and freedom is new for us," she said.
Nishan Ismail, 40, a teacher in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, said "elections could have been a new political start" after Assad’s fall, but "the marginalization of numerous regions shows that the standards of political participation are not respected."
Negotiations on integrating the Kurds’ civil and military institutions into the new central government have stalled, with Damascus rejecting calls for decentralization.
Badran Jia Kurd, an official with the Kurdish administration in the northeast, argued on X on Sunday evening that the selection process "aims to legitimize a temporary authority that does not represent the entire population, risking further divisions and fragmentation of the country."
In southern Syria’s Druze-majority city of Sweida, activist Burhan Azzam, 48, also took issue with the process.
The authorities "have ended political life" in Syria, he said, adding that the selection process "doesn’t respect the basic rules of democracy."
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.
..always the voice of sweet reason...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964...
...Arabic for 
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
Leveler of Latakia...
