Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2025 ||
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#1
From a photo series by Nina Leen of aspiring actress Jo Ann Kemmerling reading a book in the small bathtub in her New York City apartment sometime in 1953.
I still really appreciate B&W photography if done correctly. Subject, lighting, framing and context.
The eye is not distracted by somebody's idea of what the colors should be. It becomes more of a 'moment in time' instead of something else.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/29/2025 8:15 Comments ||
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#2
Exactly MR. That's why Ansel Adams was such a genius..All about the shadows and shades of grey. Or mind can fill in the rest.
BTW - What's the device on the wall above her elbow at 11:00?
Looks like a hand crank car window from an old Ford...
#5
She should have a bath mat on the floor by that tub so she doesn't slip on the linoleum when she gets out of the tub. We'd all hate for that to happen.
And is that some kind of a doll on the shelf by the mirror?
Details, details...
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/29/2025 11:27 Comments ||
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#6
The electric plug above the tub probably not the best idea.
#7
You could drop a toaster that’s not plugged in into the water to see if she jumps out.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/29/2025 12:37 Comments ||
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#8
re: "the electric switch" above the tub. We had similar code problems with our Jacuzzi. I suggested battery powered switch or voice activated to our architect and he replied in horror:<strong> "No government inspector would understand how to deal with that and would refuse it!"Which goes right back to the stupidity of letting the government determine anything as they are bureaucrats and nothing else except many times crooks.
ALERT: Senior Afghan Taliban Intelligence Official Killed in Kabul
Mawlawi Numan Ghaznavi, a senior official within the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) and secretary to the head of the agency, has been killed in Kabul, according to multiple Taliban-affiliated… pic.twitter.com/Hj71lVCa6i
ALERT: Senior Afghan Taliban Intelligence Official Killed in Kabul
Mawlawi Numan Ghaznavi, a senior official within the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) and secretary to the head of the agency, has been killed in Kabul, according to multiple Taliban-affiliated sources.
Taliban-linked social media accounts and local sources have confirmed his death, but no official statement has yet been released explaining the circumstances or cause of the incident.
Ghaznavi was known to be a close aide to Abdul Haq Wasiq, the Taliban’s intelligence chief.
#ALERT: Heavy Fighting Reported Near Xudur in Bakool Region
Heavy fighting broke out on Sunday on the outskirts of Xudur in Somalia’s Bakool region between Al-Shabaab militants and southwest forces, local sources said.
Reliable sources reported that at least five South West…
Heavy fighting broke out on Sunday on the outskirts of Xudur in Somalia’s Bakool region between Al-Shabaab militants and southwest forces, local sources said.
Reliable sources reported that at least five South West State soldiers were killed during the clashes, while three others sustained injuries of varying severity.
The violence marks a continuation of frequent clashes between Somali regional forces and Al-Shabaab in the southern regions of the country.
IS-Sahel just claimed the attack, confirming that , and that IS fighters captured eight rifles and three motorcycles after overrunning a JNIM base near “Bandiaga”, likely Bandania southwest of Dori, northeast Burkina Faso. https://t.co/0ezi3vAMAspic.twitter.com/wKfMU1FqYp
IS-Sahel just claimed the attack, confirming that eight JNIM militants were killed, and that IS fighters captured eight rifles and three motorcycles after overrunning a JNIM base near “Bandiaga”, likely Bandania southwest of Dori, northeast Burkina Faso.
Green on green — thinning the herd.
JNIM originally started this tactic of infiltrating IS-Sahel to steal weapons and ammunition, however this backfired recently as JNIM fighters started using this same tactic but against their own group, by conspiring to capture loot and kill their own leaders before defecting to… https://t.co/xe5qlboY1y
JNIM originally started this tactic of infiltrating IS-Sahel to steal weapons and ammunition, however this backfired recently as JNIM fighters started using this same tactic but against their own group, by conspiring to capture loot and kill their own leaders before defecting to IS-Sahel.
This created a sense of mistrust within JNIM where fighters who are nowhere to be seen for a while or deviate slightly from their motorcycle convoys are sometimes killed on the spot.
[Daily Mail where America gets its news] Donald Trump gave a nonchalant confirmation of the first US land strike in Venezuela during a radio interview last week that received little attention.
Audio at the link. Also a pertinent scrap of video from today’s meeting with Bibi Netanyahu and video from something burning brightly in Venezuela.
The President said that the Christmas Eve strike was on a facility 'where the ship comes from' – seemingly referencing the origination location of the alleged drug vessels that the US military has been targeting in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the last three months.
Speaking on WABC on December 26, Trump made the bombshell suggestion that US forces have already started conducting land operations in Venezuela.
'I don't know if you read or you saw, they have a big plant or a big facility where they send the – where the ships come from,' the President said during a call-in with radio host and billionaire John Catsimatidis,
…a 77 year old immigrant from Greece who owns grocery stores in Manhattan, real estate, an aviation company, and an oil refinery. Like President Trump he switched from the Democratic party to the Republicans, though his only foray into politics was a run for the mayor of New York City in 2013 — that’s when Bill deBlasio won…
who was filling in for Sid Rosenberg.
'Two nights ago we knocked that out – so we hit them very hard,' Trump confirmed.
On Monday afternoon, following the Daily Mail's reporting of the under-the-radar strike, Trump definitively confirmed the launch of land strikes in the region, saying that the US hit 'the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.'
Asked whether it was the US Military or CIA forces, Trump said: 'I don't want to say that – I know exactly who it was.'
The President said since late November that the US is shifting away from maritime attacks on drug boats and will 'soon' be conducting land strikes in Venezuela.
The latest is part of a continued campaign to apply pressure on Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, as boat strikes didn't appear to work to deter the so-called narco regime from continuing operations.
The exact target of the Christmas Eve operation was not clear at first, and it remains unknown which US forces or government entities were involved after Trump declined to say if it was military or CIA.
Trump did confirm, however, that the explosion was along the shore of Venezuela.
A video posted to X last week showed a large explosion in the Zulia state of Venezuela near the second-largest city in the country, Maracaibo.
The state's San Francisco municipality sits on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela.
Zulia-based journalist Jhorman Cruz took the video of a massive fire with resulting explosions in the early hours of December 24. After it gained some traction on social media, Cruz downplayed that it could have been a US military strike.
'It is prudent to say that we still do not know what started the fire,' he wrote on X, according to a translation of his original post. 'Residents DID NOT see anything unusual, nor drones, nor cars, nor the presence of foreigners.'
'Be careful with strange hypotheses,' the El Público TV director warned.
The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for clarification of the President's comments.
Starting on September 2, 2025, the Department of War has been conducting strikes against suspected drug ships in the Caribbean and Atlantic.
The operations have killed more than 105 people and are aimed at trafficking routes the US says are to blame for a huge spike in overdose deaths.
But Trump has said that land targets are 'much easier' and has hinted at the shift with statements like: 'land strikes will start very soon' and 'soon we will be starting the same program on land.'
He has also warned Maduro it would be 'smart' to step down, but has not gone as far as to confirm that the US military operations are to force regime change.
Via PJ Media, speculation on the target site. In fact, go to the tweet and read the entire thread — lots of information there:
Early this morning in Villaflores, Chiapas, armed assailants set fire to two bars, injuring four women with burns. The attacks, attributed to organized crime amid ongoing cartel disputes, also damaged three vehicles parked outside one of the establishments. Authorities have… pic.twitter.com/tWWCeR2mY1
Early this morning in Villaflores, Chiapas, armed assailants set fire to two bars, injuring four women with burns.
The attacks, attributed to organized crime amid ongoing cartel disputes, also damaged three vehicles parked outside one of the establishments. Authorities have launched an investigation, though details remain limited.
Note: Reports vary on the exact number of injured (three or four) and do not confirm kidnappings. Some unverified accounts mention the bar owner being unaccounted for, and recent narco-banners in the area point to tensions between rival groups.
[IsraelTimes] Seven Turkish police officers were wounded during a clash with suspected Islamic State militants in Yalova province in northwest Turkey, state broadcaster TRT Haber reports.
It says police teams in Yalova launched an operation on a house believed to contain militants near the town of Yalova.
Turkey’s interior minister said six Islamic State terrorists and three police officers were killed in a clash in northwest Turkey.
The shooting occurred in Yalova province, south of Istanbul, on Monday, as police stormed a house where the operatives were hiding.
Special forces from neighboring Bursa province were dispatched to reinforce the operation.
In addition to those killed, eight police officers and a night guard were wounded, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters.
As the confrontation spread into the streets, five schools in the area were closed for the day, private news channel NTV reported. Authorities also cut off natural gas and electricity supplies as a precaution while civilians and vehicles were barred from entering the neighborhood.
Last week, police launched scores of simultaneous raids, detaining 115 suspected members of the group who were allegedly planning attacks targeting Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
Officials said the group had called for action, particularly against non-Muslims, during the celebrations.
The wounded police officers were not reported to be in a serious condition, it says.
[Dawn] • ISPR says four terrorists eliminated in Karak
• Another eight killed in Lakki police action
• Peace committee member injured in attack
• Officials told to be on their guard amid threats from banned groups
At least 12 bad boyz were potted and several others injured in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) carried out by security forces in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.
The military’s media wing said that security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan’s Kalat district, killing four terrorists.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was carried out the previous day following intelligence reports about the presence of murderous Moslems affiliated with Fitna al Hindustan — the term the state uses for Balochistan-based separatist groups.
During the operation, security forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, and after an intense fire exchange, four Indian sponsored bad boyz were potted, the ISPR said in the statement.
It added that weapons and ammunition were seized from the dead terrorists, who had been actively involved in terrorist activity in the area.
"Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorist found in the area. [The] relentless counter-terrorism campaign under [the] vision "Azm-e-Istehkam" (as approved by [the] Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistain will continue at full pace to wipe out [the] menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country," the ISPR stated.
The operation came a day after the ISPR reported that four murderous Moslems from the Fitna al Khawarij — a term used to describe the Tehrik-e-Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Pakistain (TTP) — had been killed in an IBO in Balochistan’s Panjgur district.
KARAK OPERATION
Separately, Karak police front man Shaukat Khan told Dawn that eight bad boyz were potted and several of their accomplices injured during an IBO in Karak district. He said police moved to the area after receiving credible intelligence about the presence of murderous Moslems in the mountainous terrain of Banda Daud Shah tehsil.
"During the operation, led by Karak District Police Officer Saud Khan, the law enforcement personnel eliminated eight murderous Moslems in an intense exchange of fire and destroyed their hideouts in the difficult mountainous terrain," he said, adding that Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) commandos, backed by intelligence operatives, assisted police in effectively engaging the terrorists.
The official added that the murderous Moslems attempted to take away the bodies of their slain accomplices, but the police effectively engaged them, resulting in an exchange of fire that lasted several hours.
PEACE BODY MEMBER INJURED
Separately, in Lakki Marwat, a member of a peace committee was injured when murderous Moslems attacked his house in the Abbasa Khattak area late Saturday night.
District police front man Qudratullah confirmed the attack, saying a group of murderous Moslems fired rockets launchers at the house of Hamayun, a key member of the local peace body.
As a result of the attack, Hamayun sustained injuries, while other residents of the house remained unhurt. Local police, with the help of armed residents and volunteers of the peace body, returned fire and forced the assailants to flee.
The murderous Moslems also fired at the Abbasa police post before fleeing towards the mountainous border area with Karak district. Despite his injuries, Hamayun, along with other peace committee volunteers, is expected to assist police in operations against murderous Moslems in the area.
The attack followed a successful operation in the Takhti Khel area of Lakki Marwat district, where police claimed to have killed six terrorists, including a commander identified as Nusratullah Wazir.
[Rudaw] Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS) on Sunday announced the arrest of five 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.... suspects in separate operations in three northern and western provinces.
The ICTS said in a statement that their forces "carried out a series of precise security operations that resulted in the arrest of five Lions of Islam in separate areas," adding that the operations were carried out based on intelligence and field surveillance of the group’s activities.
Two of the suspects were arrested in an operation in Kirkuk province. The suspects were allegedly "working as transporters, suppliers, and controllers for the defeated ISIS terrorist gangs." Two others were arrested in two security operations in Anbar province, which borders Syria. The fifth one was arrested in Nineveh province.
The ICTS affirmed its "continued implementation of preemptive operations in line with an advanced security strategy aimed at achieving a safe and stable Iraq."
Iraq’s intelligence agency announced on Wednesday the arrest of two people for writing ISIS slogans on the walls of schools in Kirkuk. They allegedly planned to carry out attacks in the province.
The ICTS announced earlier this month the arrest of six suspected ISIS members and the destruction of several holy warrior hideouts during coordinated security operations across the country.
ISIS seized control of large swathes of territory in Iraq in 2014, but was defeated in 2017 after three years of fierce battles. Despite its defeat, the group continues to threaten security, especially in disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad, spanning several provinces including Diyala, Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... Nineveh and Salahaddin provinces.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/29/2025 2025-12-29 00:05 ||
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[IsraelTimesj The IDF has withdrawn from the northern West Bank’s Qabatiya, according to Palestinian media, ending a two-day operation that was launched in the northern West Bank town after a resident killed two people and wounded two others in a ramming-and-stabbing attack in northern Israel on Friday.
The IDF does not immediately comment on the reports.
Ahmed al-Rub is accused of murdering 68-year-old Mordechai Shimshon and 19-year-old Aviv Maor during an extended terror spree on a highway near Beit She’an.
Qabatiya Mayor Ahmed Zakarneh tells WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, that during the operation in Qabatiya, troops raided some 50 homes, six of which the military took over and used as tactical bases.
Fifty people were detained in the raids, all of whom have been released except for al-Rub’s father and two brothers, says Zakarneh.
The operation also saw the IDF cause damage to several roads and electric lines, impose a curfew on Qabatiya and cut it off from other towns in the area, preventing many people from reaching their workplaces, Zakarneh tells WAFA.
The IDF said earlier today that it had completed sealing off Rub’s home.
[IsraelTimes] Police say man from Beit Hanina nabbed alongside others after he fled on foot from scene, was reportedly transporting Palestinians who entered Israel illegally
A Paleostinian from East Jerusalem on Sunday was arrested after allegedly crashing into and lightly injuring a policeman while fleeing from authorities over fear of being caught without a valid license.
The driver, a man in his 20s from Beit Hanina, had been barred from driving several times in the past, according to police.
The man sped off in a "reckless and dangerous manner" after officers tried to stop him for an inspection in the Atarot industrial zone near Jerusalem, police said.
He collided with an officer operating in the area, who was taken to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus to be treated for mild injuries.
After extensive searches, police said, they arrested the suspect, who had expeditiously departed at a goodly pace on foot. The driver was arrested alongside several others. It is unclear how many were arrested and on what suspicions.
According to Hebrew media, the driver had been transporting Paleostinians who entered Israel illegally.
Authorities have been cracking down on the phenomenon. Terror attacks are often committed by West Bank residents who cross over into Israel without a permit from the military.
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian sources tell Asharq al-Awsat IDF nabbed terror group member in Hamas-held area of the Strip; IDF denies report it shifted Yellow Line
Covert Israeli forces on the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... -controlled side 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 line have reportedly detained a Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... operative linked to the abduction of slain police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage still being held in the Strip.
According to the Saudi-owned outlet Asharq al-Awsat, the unnamed operative is part of the al-Quds Brigades, PIJ’s armed wing, and was active in Gaza City’s eastern Zeitoun neighborhood, which is bisected by the ceasefire line.
Citing local sources and sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Sunday report said that the operative was detained a few days ago about a kilometer (0.6 miles) west of the "Yellow Line," in the Hamas-held part of Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Asharq, the detained PIJ member’s name appeared in a document Israel gave to mediators in Cairo last month that listed operatives thought to be responsible for capturing and holding Gvili’s body. The precise nature of the operative’s alleged involvement in the abduction was unclear from the report.
Israeli officials cited by Hebrew media outlets have accused Islamic Jihad of holding on to Gvili’s remains, and have charged Hamas with failing to pressure its fellow terror group to release the body. Islamic Jihad claimed earlier this month that it had returned all the hostages in its possession, a statement rejected by Israel.
Islamic Jihad sources cited by Asharq al-Awsat claimed the group did originally hold the body in several locations in Gaza City, but then handed it over early in the war to Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
Hamas sources cited by the outlet said Hamas held Gvili’s remains for an extended period, but denied that the group currently possesses the body. They claimed that Israeli operations in the area where the body was last held have made searches for it more difficult.
Under a ceasefire deal signed in October, Hamas released the 20 remaining living hostages in its possession, and was obligated to also return the remains of the 28 deceased captives it held at the time within 72 hours.
The release of the hostages’ bodies was delayed, with Hamas claiming that it needed more time and special equipment to recover many of the bodies — although it was also caught staging the recovery of partial remains belonging to a body that the IDF had already recovered in 2023.
To date, Hamas has handed over 27 of the 28 captives’ bodies, with the last few remains returned to Israel being those held by Islamic Jihad.
The most recent deceased hostage returned was Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, whose body was handed over by PIJ on December 3. A week before that, the body of Dror Or, who had also been held by Islamic Jihad, was returned to Israel.
Gvili’s family have vowed not to give up their battle for his return, with hundreds joining them on Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to demand Israel not advance to the second stage of the US peace plan without his return.
"We need to be united to make clear to the world, in no uncertain terms — we don’t forget. And we won’t let anyone leave him there," his mother, Talik Gvili, said. "No moving on to the second phase, and not anything, until he’s home."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has vowed to return Gvili — is slated to meet this week in Florida with US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... , who is expected to push for an advance to phase 2 of the peace deal.
During a Hanukkah party at the White House this month, Trump repeatedly asserted that he had gotten all the remaining hostages out of Gaza, despite being publicly corrected by the family of a former slain captive.
IDF DENIES MOVING YELLOW LINE
Also on Sunday, the IDF rejected claims that it has unilaterally shifted the Yellow Line inside Gaza, following a report alleging that Israeli forces had redrawn the border deeper into the enclave.
In a response issued by the IDF, the military said it was visually marking the Yellow Line in accordance with the terrain and as operational assessments change, calling allegations the line has been moved "inaccurate." According to the statement, troops are operating based on directives from the style='border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:gray;' title='political leaders'>politicianship and in line with boundaries defined under the ceasefire agreement.
The response came after an investigation by French daily newspaper Libération claimed that more than 120 yellow markers had been installed across Gaza — including near Khan Younis, Shejaiya and Jabalia — expanding the area under Israeli control beyond routes set by the October ceasefire agreement.
Using satellite imagery and videos filmed by Gaza residents, the paper said it geolocated the markers and determined that they now enclose at least 56% of the enclave as being under Israeli control — up from the 53% Israel was reported to control when the line was first demarcated.
One cited example placed newly installed blocks in early December near the Bani Suheila school, east of Khan Younis, roughly 600 meters inside the line Israel previously said would define the security buffer. The school area, the report noted, had been used by displaced families as a shelter.
In December 2025, Jordan conducted a wave of airstrikes across Syria, primarily targeting drug and arms smuggling networks in Suwayda province. On December 24-25, Royal Jordanian Air Force jets hit warehouses and factories used by traffickers for storage and as launch pads for… pic.twitter.com/echg9auY2j
In December 2025, Jordan conducted a wave of airstrikes across Syria, primarily targeting drug and arms smuggling networks in Suwayda province.
On December 24-25, Royal Jordanian Air Force jets hit warehouses and factories used by traffickers for storage and as launch pads for cross-border smuggling of Captagon pills and weapons. This same weapons smuggling infrastructure can be used to deliver weapons to terror cells inside Jordan and potentially to terror cells in Judea and Samaria.
Jordan cited precise intelligence and coordination with regional partners, aiming to neutralize threats to its national security amid persistent smuggling despite the 2024 regime change under Ahmed Al Sharaa. On December 19-20, Jordan joined US-led strikes against ISIS cells in Syria as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike in response to a deadly attack on US personnel and to prevent ISIS remnants from regrouping.
[AnNahar] Thousands of Syrian Alawiteserupted into the streets in coastal and central parts of the country on Sunday to protest, two days after a mosque bombing that killed eight.
The attack, which took place in an Alawite area of Homs, was only the latest against the religious minority, which has been the target of several episodes of violence since the December 2024 fall of longtime ruler Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... , himself an Alawite.
Security forces intervened to break up festivities between demonstrators and supporters of Syria's new Islamist authorities, an AFP correspondent in the coastal city of Latakia saw.
Security forces intervened to break up festivities between demonstrators and supporters of Syria's new Islamist authorities, an AFP correspondent in the coastal city of Latakia saw.
Other festivities took place in the town of Jableh, another correspondent said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor also reporting violence in the city of Homs itself, with several injured.
"Why the killing? Why the liquidation? Why the kidnapping? Why these random actions without any deterrent, accountability or oversight?" demanded Numeir Ramadan, a 48-year-old trader protesting in Latakia.
"Assad is gone, and we do not support Assad... Why this killing?"
Sunday's demonstration came after calls from prominent spiritual leader Ghazal Ghazal, head of the Islamic Alawite Council in Syria and Abroad, who on Saturday had urged people to "show the world that the Alawite community cannot be humiliated or marginalized".
"We do not want a civil war, we want political federalism. We do not want your terrorism. We want to determine our own destiny," he said, in a video message on Facebook.
Protesters carried pictures of Ghazal along with banners expressing support for him, while chanting calls for the new authorities to allow a decentralised government authority and a degree of regional autonomy.
Placards also called for an end to "sectarian speech".
"Our first demand is federalism to stop the bloodshed, because Alawite blood is not cheap, and Syrian blood in general is not cheap. We are being killed because we are Alawites," Hadil Salha, a 40-year-old housewife said.
Got it in one. To the HTS government, y’all are heretics.
Most Syrians are Sunni Moslem, and the city of Homs -- where Friday's bombing took place -- is home to a Sunni majority but also has several areas that are predominantly Alawite, a community whose faith stems from Shiite Islam.
The community is otherwise mostly present across their coastal heartland in Latakia and Tartus provinces.
Since Assad's fall, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor and Homs province residents have reported kidnappings and killings targeting members of the minority community.
- ALAWITE MASSACRES -
The country has also seen several bloody flare-ups of sectarian violence.
In March, Syria's coastal areas saw s massacre of Alawite civilians. Authorities accused armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.
A national commission of inquiry said at least 1,426 members of the minority were killed, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor put the toll at more than 1,700.
Late last month, thousands of people demonstrated on the coast to protest fresh attacks targeting Alawites in Homs and other regions.
Before and after the March bloodshed, authorities carried out a massive arrest campaign in predominantly Alawite areas, which are also former Assad strongholds.
On Sunday, protesters also demanded the release of detainees.
On Friday, Syrian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported the release of 70 detainees in Latakia "after it was proven that they were not involved in war crimes", saying more releases would follow.
Despite assurances from Damascus that all Syria's communities will be protected, the country's minorities remain wary of their future under the new Islamist authorities, who have so far rejected calls for federalism.
At least two civilians were killed and nearly 50 injured in violence tied to Alawite protests in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia, a war monitor said on Sunday, while the country’s interior ministry reported that one security member was killed and several others were injured.
The interior ministry said it had announced “the martyrdom of one of the internal security elements and the injury of several elements while performing their national duty in maintaining security and securing the protests” in Latakia.
The demonstrations followed a call by Ghazal Ghazal, a leader of Syria’s Alawite community, a day earlier, as well as a deadly attack on an Alawite mosque on Friday.
The ministry said that “security elements tasked with securing today's protests were subjected to direct attacks in the city of Latakia,” adding that forces were also attacked in the Tartus countryside “by groups linked to remnants of the [Assad] regime.”
Meanwhile, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Sunday that “two people died in Latakia from gunshot wounds, and 48 others were injured in Latakia, Jableh, and Tartus, some critically.”
Earlier in the day, SOHR reported that protesters were “attacked with live gunfire and bladed weapons” by Damascus security forces and their affiliated groups.
“We condemn this in the strongest possible terms and consider it a flagrant violation of Syrians’ right to peacefully express their opinions and legitimate demands,” the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) said in a statement, adding that it “holds those responsible within the Syrian Transitional Government accountable for these practices.”
Calls for decentralization or federalism have intensified among Alawites, Druze, and Kurds following repeated waves of violence, particularly after clashes left nearly 800 people dead in the Druze-majority Suwayda province in mid-July and nearly 2,000 dead in Alawite-majority coastal regions in March, according to war monitors.
An Associated Press photographer in Latakia saw pro-government counter-protesters throw rocks at the Alawite demonstrators, while a group of protesters beat a counter-demonstrator who crossed to their side. Security forces tried to break up the two sides and fired into the air in an attempt to disperse them. Demonstrators were injured in the scuffles, but it was not immediately clear how many.
Syria’s state-run television reported that two members of the security forces were wounded in the area of Tartous after someone threw a hand grenade at a police station, and cars belonging to security forces were set on fire in Latakia.
Later, state-run news agency SANA reported that a member of the security forces was killed by gunfire. Local health officials said that three people were killed and 60 others wounded.
The country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 that brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war. Assad, an Alawite, fled the country to Russia.
In March, an ambush carried out by Assad’s supporters against security forces triggered days of violence that left hundreds of people dead, most of them Alawites. Since then, although the situation has calmed, Alawites have been targeted sporadically in sectarian attacks. They have also complained of discrimination against them in public employment since Assad’s fall and of young Alawite men detained without charges.
During the reign of the Assad dynasty, Alawites were overrepresented in government jobs and in the army and security forces.
Government officials condemned Friday’s attack and promised to hold perpetrators accountable, but have not yet announced any arrests.
According to information we obtained from military sources, three simultaneous attacks took place yesterday in the Deir ez-Zor countryside.
Sleeper cells affiliated with HTS and MIT attacked two SDF positions near the Euphrates River in the town of al-Kishkiya, east of Deir ez-Zor, with automatic weapons. The attack was repelled after clashes.
Another simultaneous attack targeted the SDF-run hospital and post office in the town of Abu Hamam, also east of Deir ez-Zor. The clashes lasted for more than an hour, and the attackers withdrew after SDF reinforcement patrols arrived, without any casualties or injuries reported.
A simultaneous attack also took place, an SDF military position in the town of Diban, southeast of Deir ez-Zor, was targeted with an RPG-7 fired from a long distance. The attack caused material damage only.
Additionally, two days ago, three separate attacks were carried out against the SDF in the Deir ez-Zor region.
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.
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...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 
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
