[NYPost] She’s 96 years old, has millions of fans, and absolutely refuses to let anyone kill her buzz.
Internet superstar Lillian Droniak was warned she could get the boot from her Connecticut retirement home if she doesn’t stop throwing shindigs for her squad of silver-haired sidekicks — but the feisty great-grandma says she’s not about to trade cocktail hour for cocoa and lights out.
“I can do what I want,” she said in a hilarious Instagram video. “They can’t stop me.”
Known to millions online as Grandma Droniak, the red-haired rabble-rouser has 4 million Instagram followers and a jaw-dropping 12.6 million TikTok fans, proving that social media isn’t just for spring chickens, it’s for party hens, too.
For her part, she only follows one person — her beloved grandson Kevin.
Her Instagram bio boldly declares: “I’m a celebrity and a 96-year-old grandma. I can be your grandma too.”
And judging by her fan base, she practically is.
The Shelton, Conn. merrymaker recently shared a video that had fans howling with laughter after she received a stern warning letter from management.
Wearing a T-shirt that read “Eyes Are Up Here” in hot-pink lettering, Lillian dramatically put on her glasses and announced the shocking news.
“Getting kicked out of my nursing home,” she read aloud from the typed letter. “Parties are not allowed . . . and you cannot serve alcohol to other residents. This letter serves as a final warning.”
If the retirement home expected an apology, they picked the wrong grandma.
Instead, they got a one-woman uprising.
After briefly considering the warning, Lillian ripped the letter in half and dropped it.
Then, as causally as if she were discussing the weather, she pulled out a hair pick and fluffed her bangs.
“I can do whatever I want,” she declared. “I pay $12,000 dollars a month to live here and I can party if I want to. We’re gonna drink and gossip. It’s not a party, but we do get rowdy.”
Grandma Droniak is not sorry for having her friends over for a good time.
Then she ended by saying, “I can’t help it. I love to party! You can’t stop me!”
Take that, Fun Police.
After she applied a touch of lipstick, there was a knock at the door.
“They’re here!” she squealed before speeding off in her wheelchair to greet her guests, cackling like a gangster — unapproved speakeasy open for business.
The clip ended with her signature sign off: “Love ya!”
And just like that, another legendary Grandma Droniak party was underway.
Long before she was collecting likes, Lillian worked on the assembly line at Sikorsky Aircraft, building helicopters.
Now she’s the one causing turbulence.
Her husband passed away nearly 25 year ago, but Lillian never lost her sense of humor or her appetite for adventure.
Today, she’s a mother of three, grandmother of five, and great-grandmother of three.
[Wunderground] Winter Storm Warning
Issued: 8:17 PM Jun. 27, 2026 — National Weather Service
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM MDT MONDAY ABOVE 6500 FEET...
* WHAT...Heavy wet snow expected above 6500 feet. Total snow
accumulations of 4 to 8 inches, with 8 to 16 inches across the
Anaconda Pintler Mountains. Snow levels may briefly lower and could produce minor slushy accumulation at Homestake and Macdonald Pass.
------------------------------
Early in the week a heat dome over Texas will send temperatures to near 110F. Toward mid week the heat dome will be over the east USA with temperature over 100F likely in about 16 States including the large cities.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
06/28/2026 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1777 views]
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#1
El Nino is a naughty, naughty child. . . 8^)
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/28/2026 7:50 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Hell of a hailstorm here in Idaho on Friday night. Lost a 25-foot Blue Spruce
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[REGNUM.RU] A 5.4-magnitude earthquake was recorded in Pakistan.The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) press service reported this on June 27.
The epicenter of the tremors was located 102 km northwest of the city of Dera Ghazi Khan, which has a population of approximately 236,000. The epicenter was located at a depth of 10 km.
There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitudes struck Venezuela on the evening of June 24. The epicenters were in the state of Yaracuy, 16 km from the city of Morón and 24 km from San Felipe. The epicenters were located at a depth of approximately 10 km. A state of emergency was declared in the country. The death toll was at least 920. The tremors were felt throughout the country, as well as in neighboring Colombia, Brazil, and the Caribbean islands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences in connection with the devastating earthquake in the northwest of the country.
The missing toll remains highly uncertain. The government has spoken of hundreds missing or trapped, while some estimated just under 50,000 people as missing Sunday, down from 55,000 a day earlier. The AP reported that families had listed 68,900 people missing Saturday, underscoring the chaos in accounting for the dead, the displaced and those cut off by communications failures.
With the desperation of the survival window closing as the days and hours wear on, Starlink has provided communication services for the humanitarian crisis.
"Starlink Mobile is providing free connectivity to @MovistarVe customers in the La Guaira region, and we are working to provide free service for @DigitelAyuda and @movilnet_ve customers as quickly as possible," Starlink posted Sunday to X.
"Families, communities and businesses with compatible LTE smartphones can now stay connected through SMS even if terrestrial networks are not available and customer phones will automatically connect to Starlink Mobile. Coverage will work best with a clear view of the sky."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[REGNUM.ru] The death toll from the earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 1,430, National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodríguez announced on June 27.
"As of this hour, we have already counted 1,430 of our brothers and sisters who have sadly perished. Our hugs and condolences go to their families and loved ones," Rodriguez said during a briefing. Add a zero when all is said and done
Medical assistance was provided to 3,238 victims. In addition, authorities registered 3,142 families left homeless, and they have been placed in shelters and provided with necessary assistance.
Rodriguez also reported that medical personnel conducted more than 12,000 mobile consultations in disaster areas, and more than 5,000 people received assistance at primary medical examination centers.
Making progress with the help of so many, which is what happens when outcome-oriented people are elected as heads of state.
Earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitudes struck Venezuela on the evening of June 24. The epicenters were in the state of Yaracuy, 16 km from the city of Morón and 24 km from San Felipe. The epicenters were located at a depth of approximately 10 km. A state of emergency was declared in the country. The tremors were felt throughout the country, as well as in neighboring Colombia, Brazil, and the Caribbean islands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences in connection with the devastating earthquake in the northwest of the country.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that Russia is exploring the possibility of providing humanitarian aid to Venezuela. She also expressed condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
[FoxNews] A new Kali365 phishing kit can sneak past multifactor authentication and give crooks access to Outlook, Teams and OneDrive.
The security step many of us trust most may not protect us the way we think. The FBI is warning about an emerging phishing-as-a-service platform called Kali365. It targets Microsoft 365 accounts, including Outlook, Teams and OneDrive.
That alone sounds bad. The scarier part is how it works. This scam can get into your account without stealing your password. Even with multifactor authentication turned on, one wrong device-code approval could give a criminal access.
Here's how the scam works, why it can slip past MFA and what you can do to protect your Microsoft account.
HOW KALI365 TRICKS MICROSOFT USERS
Kali365 is a phishing-as-a-service platform. In other words, crooks can subscribe to it and use ready-made tools to attack Microsoft 365 accounts. The FBI says Kali365 was first seen in April 2026 and has mainly spread through Telegram. The platform gives attackers access to AI-generated phishing messages, automated campaign templates, tracking dashboards and tools that capture OAuth tokens. That last part is the key.
OAuth tokens are digital access keys. They can let an app stay connected to your Microsoft account without asking for your password every time. They are useful when the right app uses them. They are dangerous when a scammer steals them.
WHY THIS SCAM CAN BEAT MFA
Most phishing scams try to steal your password. Kali365 takes a different route. The attack abuses Microsoft's device code login process. You may have seen something similar when signing into a streaming app on a smart TV. A screen shows a short code. Then you enter that code on another device to approve the sign-in.
That process is legitimate. The scam begins when a criminal starts the sign-in from their own device and tricks you into approving it. You may see a phishing email that looks like it came from a trusted cloud service or document-sharing tool. The message includes a code and tells you to visit a real Microsoft verification page.
That real Microsoft page is what makes this so sneaky. The web address can look right. Your password manager may not object. The page may feel safe. But once the code gets entered, you may unknowingly authorize the attacker's device. From there, the attacker can capture access and refresh tokens. That can open the door to Outlook, Teams and OneDrive without your password or another MFA prompt.
WHY THIS SHOULD WORRY SMALL BUSINESSES TOO
A scam like this can hit anyone with Microsoft 365 access. Still, small businesses should pay close attention. Think about what sits inside a typical work account. Email threads. Invoices. Shared files. Employee chats. Vendor contacts. Customer details. Calendar invites. One compromised account can give a criminal a very believable voice.
A scammer who gets into Outlook can study how you write. They can send messages from your real account. They can ask coworkers to pay fake invoices, share files or reset passwords. That to me is scary because the scam may not look like a scam anymore. It may come from someone you know.
HOW THE ATTACK UNFOLDS
The FBI describes the scheme in a clear sequence. First, the victim gets a phishing email that pretends to come from a trusted productivity or file-sharing service. Next, the email provides a device code and tells the victim to enter it on a legitimate Microsoft verification page.
Then, the victim enters the code and unknowingly approves the attacker's device. After that, the attacker captures OAuth access and refresh tokens. Finally, the attacker can access Microsoft 365 services such as Outlook, Teams and OneDrive without needing the victim's password.
RED FLAGS TO WATCH FOR
The biggest warning sign is an unexpected request to enter a Microsoft device code. Be suspicious if an email tells you to enter a code for a file, voicemail, invoice or shared document you did not request.
Also, watch for urgency. Scammers love messages that push you to act fast. They may claim a document will expire, a voicemail is waiting, or an account needs verification.
Another clue is context. If you were not trying to sign in to a device, do not enter a device code. That one habit can stop this scam before it starts.
WHAT MICROSOFT SAYS ABOUT THE KALI365 PHISHING WARNING
In response to CyberGuy, Microsoft said customers should follow the FBI's recommendations as well as Microsoft's published best practices to protect against Kali365 and similar scams.
The company also said it works to disrupt cybercriminal ecosystems tied to phishing-as-a-service and account takeover activity. Microsoft pointed to recent Digital Crimes Unit actions involving Fake ONNX, RaccoonO365 and Tycoon 2FA as examples of those broader efforts.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR MICROSOFT 365 ACCOUNT FROM KALI365
A few smart habits can help you spot fake device-code requests, reduce your exposure and follow the FBI’s guidance for limiting this type of attack.
1) Never enter a device code you did not request
Only enter a Microsoft device code when you personally started the sign-in. If the code arrives through an email, Teams message or random document link, stop.
2) Go directly to Microsoft
Do not use links inside surprise messages. Open your browser and go directly to Microsoft or your company's Microsoft 365 portal.
3) Check your account activity
Review recent sign-ins, connected devices and active sessions. If you see a location, device or app you do not recognize, take action right away.
4) Revoke suspicious sessions
If you think you entered a code by mistake, sign out of all sessions and revoke suspicious app access. Then change your password and contact your IT team.
5) Keep MFA turned on
Do not turn off multifactor authentication because of this scam. MFA still blocks many account attacks. This threat shows why you also need to be careful with approval prompts and device codes.
6) Use strong security software
Using strong antivirus software can help detect phishing pages, malicious links and suspicious downloads before they cause damage. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com
7) Use a data removal service
Scammers often build convincing phishing messages with personal details found online. A data removal service can help reduce the amount of your information available on people-search sites and data broker databases. Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com
8) Train your team on device-code scams
Employees may know not to type passwords into strange pages. Many have never been warned about device codes. Make this specific scam part of your security training.
9) Restrict device code flow if your business does not need it
The FBI says restricting device code flow can help prevent or limit this style of attack. IT teams should create a conditional access policy to block device code flow for all users, with limited exceptions for required business processes.
10) Audit device code usage first
Before blocking device code flow, the FBI recommends auditing current usage to identify legitimate business needs. That can help prevent disruptions for employees or systems that rely on this sign-in method.
11) Block authentication transfer policies
The FBI also recommends blocking authentication transfer policies. This can help prevent users from transferring authentication from computers to mobile devices.
12) Protect emergency access accounts
If your organization cannot fully restrict device code flow, the FBI recommends excluding emergency access accounts to prevent lockouts. That step should be handled carefully by your IT or security team.
13) Report the attack
If you were targeted or compromised, report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov. Include phishing emails, email headers, suspicious login times, IP addresses, locations, unauthorized devices and active sessions.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ENTERED A CODE
Move quickly.
Sign out of Microsoft 365 on all devices.
Change your password.
Check your recovery email and phone number.
Review forwarding rules in Outlook.
Look for strange inbox rules that hide, delete or redirect emails.
Then review OneDrive files, Teams messages and recent account activity.
If this is a work account, tell your IT team immediately. Do not wait to see what happens. Stolen tokens can give attackers continued access until they are revoked.
KURT'S KEY TAKEAWAYS
This is the kind of scam that can fool smart people because it uses a real Microsoft sign-in page to pull off something criminal. That is what makes Kali365 so dangerous. It can turn a trusted security step into a trap, especially when the code did not come from a signed-in user. The big takeaway here is to slow down before entering any Microsoft device code. If a code shows up through an unexpected email, text or Teams message, stop and go directly to the account instead. Do not approve a sign-in unless it was started on purpose. A few extra seconds of caution can help keep criminals out of Outlook, Teams, OneDrive and everything connected to them.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Oleg Shevchenko
[REGNUM.RU] Forty years ago, on June 27, 1986, the UN Court in The Hague found the United States in violation of international law and guilty of aggression. The superpower lost its case against the small Central American country of Nicaragua. The International Court ruled that Washington must pay compensation for the damages caused. The U.S. withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986, accepting the court's jurisdiction only on a discretionary basis. So all this may not matter.
Despite numerous legal tricks and outright distortions of the facts, The Hague Tribunal recognized that American support for the Contra militants, attacks on Nicaraguan ports, oil installations, and the laying of mines in Nicaraguan ports all violate the principle of respect for territorial sovereignty.
The minimum amount of reparations that the International Court ordered the United States to pay was set at more than $370 million (about $1.1 billion in today's money).
It was a genuine scandal—it set a precedent that would allow dozens of countries that had suffered from American aggression to file similar lawsuits. It also resulted in purely political reputational damage: the Americans were condemned for actions in their own backyard.
According to the Monroe Doctrine, proclaimed in 1823, the United States considered the entire Western Hemisphere to be its exclusive sphere of influence, where Europeans should not “meddle” (in fact, this concerned the sovereign states of Latin America, since British and Danish possessions were located to the north of the United States).
Despite its small size, Nicaragua was an important element of "gringo" policy in Central America. First, as a "plot" for the United Fruit Company, an agro-industrial corporation. Second, as a potential site for the construction of a canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, a counterpart to the Panama Canal. The US is reviving the idea of a Nicaraguan shipping route even now, under Donald Trump.
President Theodore Roosevelt (whom Trump considers a role model) put it unequivocally in the early 20th century: US administrations need to speak to governments in their sphere of influence "kindly, but with a big stick."
Given this interest, the United States placed Nicaragua under manual control twice in the 20th century. Marines first landed in 1912, when the transoceanic canal project was in danger of being seized by Britain. The occupation was formally quickly ended, but in 1916, the Bryan - Chamorro Treaty gave the United States legal authority to interfere in the republic's foreign and domestic policies.
In 1926, the US Army reentered Nicaragua, this time to assist the loyalist regime in its fight against the nationalist movement led by Augusto César Sandino. The Americans continued to maintain a contingent even after the onset of the Great Depression (when Congress was forced to cut spending, including on defense), and withdrew the troops only in 1933, partly due to the high costs of the operation and partly due to the success of Sandino's guerrillas.
The rebel leader was let down by a "deal"—during another round of negotiations in 1934, Sandino was captured and executed on the orders of National Guard commander Anastasio Somoza. The useful general was installed as president at the behest of the United States. Somoza established a family dictatorship that ruled the republic for the next 42 years.
There's a famous historical anecdote about Franklin Roosevelt uttering the phrase, "He's a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch," referring to Anastasio Somoza (according to another version, the epithet referred to another "president in a big cap," the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo). There's no documentary evidence to support this phrase, but the US essentially supported Somoza's "family business" for decades, ignoring its human rights violations.
The situation in the country was best summed up by British actress of Nicaraguan descent, wife of the Rolling Stones frontman, and social activist Bianca Jagger: "In Nicaragua, freedom, equality, and the rule of law were just a dream." However, the fact that the criticism came from a British human rights activist is not surprising – the US effectively alienated its allies from Central America, so the British only began to "make inroads" into Nicaragua in the 1990s.
But in the early 1960s, another threat arose in the "soft underbelly" of the United States. Following the Castro brothers' success in Cuba, the revolution began to spread throughout Central and South America. In 1962, the Sandinista National Liberation Front emerged in Nicaragua, based on several guerrilla units, one of which was trained by Ernesto Che Guevara himself. The Sandinistas were supported by Cuba, backed by the Soviet Union.
By the late 1970s, pro-Soviet guerrillas began to overwhelm the army of the regime, led by the youngest son of the dynasty's founder, Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The dictatorship was plagued by corruption, and the generals' effectiveness was nearing zero. But the assassination of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, editor of a popular opposition newspaper, by National Guard troops (his daughter, Violeta Barrios Chamorro, would become president) finally undermined the regime's reputation, prompting a surge in Sandinista recruits. However, the killing of approximately 50,000 civilians "suspected of collaborating with communists" by National Guard troops and police did not affect the US position.
In early summer 1979, American public opinion was shaken by another event: the assassination of ABC News reporter Bill Stewart by Somoza's soldiers, which was captured on film and broadcast on television. Democratic President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance (no relation to the current US Vice President) declared that aid to the Nicaraguan government would be cut off. In vain, Somoza's vice president declared in the US Congress: "You will rue the day you lacked the resolve to stop the expansion of Soviet imperialism on the continent!"
On July 19, 1979, Sandinista Front troops led by Daniel Ortega entered Managua. Another country oriented toward Moscow appeared on the world map.
After Ortega's meeting with Leonid Brezhnev in the Kremlin in May 1982, the Sandinista army acquired T-55 tanks, BTR-60 armored personnel carriers, Grad multiple rocket launchers, howitzers, and anti-tank guns. The socialist bloc supported Nicaragua with equipment and foreign currency, and advisers in uniform and civilian clothes traveled to Managua. Guerrilla movements in El Salvador and Guatemala looked to the Sandinistas for guidance.
In response, in August 1981, a unifying congress of the Nicaraguan opposition, the Contras, was held in Miami (already a center of Cuban anti-Castro emigration), with the consent of the Ronald Reagan administration. The "freedom fighters" established bases in neighboring, US-aligned countries—Honduras and Costa Rica. The CIA supplied the Contras with intelligence and weapons.
Nicaragua became yet another front in the US proxy war against the USSR. The Americans, for their part, turned a blind eye to the Contras overseeing drug trafficking, which also helped fill their budget.
Support for the Contras fighting against the internationally recognized government of Nicaragua was opaque. Democrats in Congress claimed the Reagan administration was supporting warlords involved in drug trafficking. In 1982 and 1984, two amendments were successfully passed in the House and Senate that blocked Reagan's aid programs for Nicaragua.
Then, bypassing Congress, a cunning scheme was devised, and even the White House was aware of it. American arms were supplied to Iran (under a formal embargo against the "ayatollah regime") through shell companies and Swiss accounts, while Iranian funds were used to purchase weapons for the Contras. Details of Iran Contragate emerged in the late 1980s, and the scandal was comparable to Watergate in 1974.
But even beyond this, the entire proxy war on the American side was "gray." This was exploited by the Ortega government, which—with the political support of the USSR—filed a lawsuit in The Hague in April 1984. Nicaragua presented evidence of US attacks on its territory (attacks on the ports of Puerto Sandino, Corinto, and El Bluff, and the mining of these harbors) and demanded compensation for damages from the US and its proxy forces.
The Americans took a strange stance at the trial: they asserted their right to be accused only if they, the United States, admitted their guilt. Not only the plaintiff but also the judges in The Hague were astonished, calling such arguments the "law of the jungle" and the "right of the fist."
A slightly more serious argument was that Nicaragua's Sandinista army, by attacking Contra bases, was itself invading neighboring Honduras and Costa Rica, and the US was merely protecting its allies. But a problem arose: there was no document in which Nicaragua's neighbors would request American "assistance."
During the trial, scandalous publications about Iran Contragate began to surface. The opinion of the Hague lawyers leaned in favor of Nicaragua.
On June 27, 1986, the International Court of Justice ruled. The United States violated its obligation not to use force against another country and the principle of non-intervention, and by mining ports, it disrupted maritime commerce. The 1956 U.S.-Nicaragua Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation (concluded during the Somoza regime but not abrogated) was also in effect—the United States had violated it as well.
The Reagan administration acknowledged the facts, but… refused to pay. Daniel Ortega, with Moscow's legal support, filed a complaint with the UN. Five times, the US vetoed UN Security Council resolutions initiated by Nicaragua calling for the country to be protected from US aggression.
In 1986, Nicaragua filed a petition for immediate payment of reparations by the United States, as ordered by the UN Court. The Americans again vetoed the motion (11 votes in favor of Nicaragua and three abstentions). Nicaragua appealed to the UN General Assembly, which called on the United States to comply with the ICJ's ruling. The resolution was supported by 94 votes to three.
In 1992, after the overthrow of the Sandinista government and the election of liberal Violeta Chamorro, Nicaragua withdrew its lawsuit against the United States. But after 2007, when Comandante Daniel Ortega became the democratically elected president, the issue of reparations resurfaced.
In 2011, the idea emerged to hold a national referendum on compensation from the United States, with the amount set at $17 billion. In 2023, President Ortega sent a corresponding letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, asking him to convey the demands to the Biden administration.
The struggle of Nicaragua, one of Russia's allies in Latin America (along with Cuba), for US reparations in compliance with the decision of the International Court of Justice continues.
From two months ago, a reminder of what Nicaragua is nowadays:
[TheHill] On May 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... signed a federal law ratifying a bilateral military cooperation agreement with Nicaragua. This follows years of deepening economic ties with Beijing.
While the regime of co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo frames these moves as standard diplomacy, it is systematically trading Nicaragua’s illusory sovereignty and economic stability for an authoritarian survival package backed by Beijing and Moscow.
Since restoring ties with China in 2021, the regime has promised the Nicaraguan people economic prosperity. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... the fiscal data tells a different story. According to the Central Bank of Nicaragua’s 2025 annual report, China accounted for just 1.9 percent of net foreign direct investment. That’s a mere $29.3 million, while traditional partners like Barbados, Panama and the United States contributed $382.6 million, $263.6 million and $196.1 million, respectively. Yet behind this modest investment lies a mounting debt trap.
According to Nicaraguan news organization Confidencial, between 2023 and 2025, the regime secured 11 loans with Chinese companies totaling more than $1.4 billion, including a 2025 $85 million loan from China’s Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group for the Nicaragua Digital Connectivity Project.
This has financed $107 million in contracts to Chinese companies to build a Huawei-equipped 4G network. Framed as a critical upgrade to modernize the country’s infrastructure, the project effectively grants control of the digital communications network to a foreign power.
#1
Tell me again why we are supposed to give a rat's ass or any legitimacy to political and neofacist/communist body that hates the US and wants us destroyed?
According to the internet, Iraq's typical annual wheat harvest is around 3 million tonnes.
[Rudaw] Iraq has received more than four million tons of wheat from farmers across the country, including the Kurdistan Region, as the 2026 grain marketing season continues, a senior trade ministry official said on Saturday.
Haider Nouri al-Garawi, head of Iraq’s state-owned general company for grain trade, told Rudaw, "The quantities received so far have reached around 4.1 million tons from all Iraqi provinces, including the Kurdistan Region."
Garawi said wheat deliveries from the Kurdistan Region had reached 154,000 tons as of Friday, with approximately 250,000 tons still expected to be delivered.
He noted that wheat procurement operations have concluded in most Iraqi provinces, while collection centers remain open in Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok, Kirkuk, and Nineveh.
The wheat procurement season began on June 12 in Erbil and Duhok before expanding to Sulaimani and Halabja, where collection operations are still ongoing.
The Iraqi government earlier this year approved the purchase of 400,000 tons of wheat from the Kurdistan Region. Under the Iraqi federal procurement policy, 292,000 tons fall within the national agricultural plan and are purchased at 700,000 Iraqi dinars (around $534) per ton, while more than 108,000 tons produced outside the plan are purchased at 500,000 dinars (around $382) per ton.
Garawi said wheat produced outside the agricultural plan will start being received in Kirkuk and Nineveh, while procurement operations have already been closed in Salahaddin, Diyala, Anbar, and all central and southern provinces.
He projected that total wheat deliveries for the current marketing season would reach "around 5 million tons or slightly less."
Garawi also praised the quality of this year's crop, describing the wheat received so far as "excellent" and highlighting the success of the government's marketing plan.
Earlier in June, Garawi told Rudaw that Iraq expected its 2026 wheat harvest to reach 5 million tons or slightly more. At the time, he said federal officials were preparing to launch the grain marketing season in the Kurdistan Region and confirmed Baghdad's decision to cap wheat purchases from the Region at 400,000 tons.
The quota was initially set at 292,000 tons, however drew criticism from Kurdish officials, who argued that the allocation was insufficient given the Region's production capacity and cultivated land.
Wheat is one of Iraq's most strategically important crops, with the government purchasing the grain from farmers each year as part of its food security program.
Collection centers remain open in the Kurdistan Region, Kirkuk, and Nineveh, where farmers continue to deliver their harvests for government procurement.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/28/2026 00:00 ||
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[1849 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
#2
Wheat Sector at a Glance Wheat ranks third (behind corn and soybeans) among U.S. field crops in planted acreage, production, and gross farm receipts. In 2025/26, U.S. farmers are estimated to have produced a total of 1.98 billion bushels of winter, spring, and Durum wheat from a harvested area of 37.2 million acres. Wheat plantings and production have followed a long-term downward trend, although the decline in production is partly mitigated by rising yields. Since peaking in 1981, U.S. wheat area planted has declined by 43 million acres and production has decreased by about 800 million bushels.
**Canada** is the dominant supplier of **U.S.** wheat imports, providing over two-thirds (and up to 90% for specific classes) of total U.S. wheat imports. In the last 10 complete marketing years (2015/16–2024/25), U.S. wheat grain imports averaged **2.2 million metric tons**, with Canada accounting for the vast majority of this volume.
Specifically, Canada supplies **90%** of U.S. non-durum wheat and **99%** of U.S. durum wheat imports. These imports are driven by geographical proximity, which reduces transport costs, and the need for complementary wheat classes like hard red spring and durum that may have seasonal or quality gaps in domestic U.S. production. In 2024, wheat imports from Canada were valued at approximately **$711.33 million**.
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.
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
