A reminder to those who object to Jew-hate of which party has their back, and which contributes to the problem. I believe early voting has just begun, so the reminder, along with the ObamaCare refunds hitting mailboxes, and the rising praise for the savings of TrumpRx, should smash the hot buttons of eager to vote Republicans and reluctant to vote Dems.
[Jpost] The US Justice Department will launch its nationwide American Tour Against Hate in Michigan, bringing federal officials and resources directly to communities confronting antisemitism.
The Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced that the first stop of the ’American Tour Against Hate’ will be in Southfield, Michigan, next Wednesday.
The nationwide campaign reflects the administration’s steadfast commitment to eradicating antisemitism, with the DOJ carrying out this mission as the agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s civil rights laws. The tour is a first-of-its-kind federal initiative that brings government resources and officials directly to local communities experiencing hate and discrimination.
The inaugural event, titled "An Evening of Unity," is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Shaarey Zedek synagogue in Southfield, Michigan. The gathering invites community leaders and residents to stand together against antisemitism and hate. Leo Terrell, chair of the Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, is featured as the keynote speaker for the evening.
Terrell stated, "I am grateful to the president for the honor of leading this Task Force and tour."
Terrell added, "We are spearheading the fight against hate and prejudice wherever it appears across the country. Particularly on a day that was so painful for so many Jewish men and women around the world, we are proud to announce this event and look forward to gathering with many of you in Michigan."
US A-G TODD BLANCHE: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT TOLERATE ANTISEMITISM
Attorney-General Todd Blanche stated, "President [Donald] Trump has made clear that this administration will not tolerate antisemitism, and the Department of Justice is committed to implementing that directive."
Blanche added, "This national tour is an important step in ensuring communities across the country know the federal government stands ready to work with them to confront antisemitic threats, protect public safety, and uphold civil rights."
Associate Attorney-General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. stated, "No American should live in fear of unjust discrimination or violence."
Woodward added, "The Department of Justice is working tirelessly to protect and defend all Americans’ right to freedom of speech and free exercise of religion. This event is sure to be a powerful evening."
by Ilya Maximov
The death of Maricarmen Abascal spurred protests in Spain over the housing crisis. Her death, two weeks after her forced eviction, became a national event.
Technically, dying at 87 is nothing extraordinary. However, in the current situation, Abascal's death has become a powerful political tool.
A pensioner was hospitalized with exhaustion after being evicted from the rented apartment where she had lived for the past 70 years. A change in ownership had increased her rent, making it impossible for her to pay, and following legal proceedings, she was ordered to vacate the premises.
It was this situation that sparked the nationwide protests. Tellingly, shortly before the elderly Spanish woman's death, her lawyer reached an agreement with the investment company to restore the previous rent, but she was unable to return home.
Ahead of snap elections, the Socialist government led by Pedro Sánchez is attempting to exploit the tragedy against its political rivals, despite his cabinet being directly involved in the crisis. After all, it is the crisis that has attracted hundreds of thousands of migrants to the country, pushing the population to a record high of 49.8 million.
It's the current government that has been unable to approve the budget with parliament for years, thereby stalling the public housing construction program. And it's the government that remains silent about the fact that the main reason for rising prices is a lack of supply, not the greed of real estate funds, which are now being blamed for everything: according to the Bank of Spain, only 8% of rental housing is owned by companies, and the shortage is estimated at 750,000 homes.
Emotional manipulation is at work. The pensioner, who has become a symbol of the protesters, has been turned into a sacrificial victim in order to rally even more people around her and provoke a strengthening of the protest movement.
Sánchez encourages Spaniards to view Abascal's death as the death of a loved one. "I embrace everyone who today feels this loss as their own," he said.
Health Minister Mónica García stated that this story "awakened the conscience of all of Spain, lit a fuse that cannot be extinguished." Judging by their rhetoric, the left hopes that this fuse will allow them to ignite a true socialist revolution in the country, and the deceased should be its face, at least initially.
Maricarmen herself has already been declared a victim of the capitalist system, with "vulture investment funds" and "rentier terrorists" being blamed for her murder. No one even mentions the state's overlooked situation and failure to help the woman before her tragic end.
Blame for Abascal's death is being placed on a specific investment fund that purchased the apartment in 2018, ignoring the fact that the company ultimately made concessions to the detriment of its own interests and renegotiated the contract based on the pensioner's terms. Right-wingers who voted against Sánchez's populist housing decrees, which limited property rights, are also to blame.
All these less-than-honest tactics are working perfectly. The death of Abascal, who had become a national hero in just a few weeks, truly gave the protests new strength, and people on the streets began calling her "the grandmother of all Spain."
When news of the Spanish flu's death broke among the protesters in the tent city, they first held a moment of silence, and soon calls for a march to Congress began to swell, immediately gaining widespread support. As a result, hundreds of people marched toward the parliament building, chanting, "Murderers, murderers!"
"Let no one doubt that the fight for housing will not end. This Congress is run by vulture funds, and we tell them they are murderers," a young man with a megaphone proclaimed, whipping up the crowd.
The left's emotional narrative easily resonated with the crowd, saddened by the death of a person whom the protesters believed they had helped save from injustice throughout the country. Many associated the deceased with their own elderly parents or with themselves in old age.
A 22-year-old graduate student, who has been living in a tent in Puerta del Sol in central Madrid for the past 10 days, told the NYT: "Maricarmen was the last straw."
Another demonstrator, a Chilean migrant who came to the country with his family, explained his participation in the protest : "I'm here today because I have a mother. And I think my mother could be Maricarmen."
Protesters bring flowers and candles to the deceased's home, chanting, "This isn't death, this is murder!" In Barcelona, an artist depicted her as an angel holding the key to the house she never returned to.
The pensioner's death also became the main argument for renewed calls for the immediate implementation of measures previously blocked by parliament: a rent freeze, automatic renewal of leases, and a complete ban on evictions for vulnerable groups. To achieve this, the rejected bills were repackaged without any changes to their core content, so that the Council of Ministers could approve them again, but this time under the guise of new proposals.
The first, which bans rent increases and evictions for certain categories of tenants, came into effect yesterday by decision of the executive branch under its temporary legislative powers. The second, which introduces automatic lease renewals, is scheduled to take effect on November 15.
Now that parliament is dissolved, the fate of these "new" decrees will be decided by the permanent parliamentary commission of Congress, and Sánchez may secure enough votes to pass at least one of them. The problem is that this commission consists of only 69 deputies, representing parliamentary groups in a reduced format.
Herein lies the trick. While the right's dominance was undeniable before the dissolution, within the commission, influence is distributed differently: the left-wing coalition has 31 votes, the conservative forces a total of 34, but there are still four votes belonging to smaller parties—mostly left-wing—which could allow new laws to pass through parliament.
In addition to manipulating the crowd's emotions and the will of parliament, a general 24-hour strike is also being prepared. Major trade unions, the CCOO and UGT, plan to hold it on November 11th with the goal of "demanding decent wages for access to decent housing."
The strike is expected to draw even more Spaniards into the protests, fueling further discontent over the lack of access to certain services. The protest could affect public transportation, schools, healthcare facilities, and government services.
The tenants' union is demanding a "truly mass strike that will paralyze the country." If it takes place, the left will, of course, once again blame all the inconveniences on right-wing forces and property owners, who, in their view, with their greed and intransigence, are forcing people to take to the streets instead of going to work.
However, there's no complete clarity regarding these plans yet: employers don't want to pay for the mobilization of the Socialist electorate out of their own pockets. They are currently attempting to call off the strike due to the lack of legal grounds for it.
The country's largest employer associations, CEOE and Cepyme, call the strike unacceptable and question its legal validity, since, despite the stated goals, the strikers' demands relate to changes in legislation and the budget, not to working conditions.
CEOE head Antonio Garamendi noted that the potential strike has a "clear political and electoral component," making it illegal. He argued that democracy is the ability to tolerate one another and accept the decisions made by a legitimate parliament.
“It seems like the strike is being staged against the opposition, not the government,” he told El Espanol, hinting at attempts to use workers for political purposes.
Despite obvious attempts to manipulate public opinion, the right continues to lead. According to a 40dB poll, the People's Party (PP) is polling at 31.9% and 123-140 seats, while Voice is polling at 18.9% and 63-74 seats. Together with another right-wing party, Se Acabo La Fiesta, whose name loosely translates as "The Party's Over," they are polling at over 52%.
The rating of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Workers' Party (PSLP) has risen to 28.1%, but the left-wing bloc overall is significantly weakened: Sumar and Podemos together are polling only 7.6%, compared to 12.3% in 2023. As a result, the gap between the blocs is enormous: 52.6% for the right versus 35.7% for the Socialists.
However, the situation is explosive, as populism has proven very persuasive. According to the CIS Center for Sociological Research, 76.3% of respondents support market intervention to guarantee access to housing, and 79% believe that the right to housing should take precedence over treating it as property. Furthermore, 40% support the expropriation of empty homes.
The right is well aware of the danger of such rhetoric. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo is already calling for "not allowing the emotions of the Spanish people to be manipulated," declaring, "This has been happening for the past eight years of their rule. It won't pass."
Alejo Vidal-Cuadras, co-founder of the Voice party, said of Abascal: “The political exploitation of her case by the left, which has been unable to solve the housing problem for eight years, has led her to experience very strong emotions in recent days, and this has killed her.”
It is already clear that the housing crisis will determine the outcome of the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for November 29, and the left will do everything to extract maximum political benefit from this.
[Jpost] UAE investigators determined that Hammami met both the professional and security requirements for joining flydubai at the time he was hired.
The United Arab Emirates Attorney-General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi announced on Friday that the Omani flydubai pilot who attempted to hijack flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30 planned to commit a suicide kaboom with the aircraft, targeting a Ben-Gurion Airport passenger terminal, Emirati state news agency WAM reported.
According to Shamsi, the attack was premeditated, with the pilot, 29-year-old Hamam al-Hammami, having begun his shift toward extremism in 2017 while studying in Australia.
Shamsi added that Hammami intended to cause the highest number of casualties possible in his attack, for which he drew inspiration from the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Hammami confessed that the idea of committing such an act was part of what drove him to pursue an aviation career in the first place, Shamsi said, noting that Hammami claims to have acted alone in both his planning and execution.
Shamsi's statement noted Hammami's aviation career history, with the Omani national having worked for four years at Oman Air before a short-lived position with Moroccan carrier Royal Air Maroc in 2025, and joining flydubai in January.
UAE: HAMMAMI MET FLYDUBAI PROFESSIONAL, SECURITY REQUIREMENTS
UAE Sherlocks determined that Hammami met both the professional and security requirements to join flydubai at the time he was hired, and the airline was unaware of his intentions or extremism.
The UAE attorney-general further discussed the midair response to the attempted hijacking, during which Hammami attacked flydubai Capt. Smit Machchhar with a cockpit crash axe.
Citing testimony from the flight's passengers and crew, Shamsi said a flydubai captain, who was onboard to operate the return flight from Tel Aviv to Dubai, entered the cockpit using the security code after seeing the door open and close repeatedly.
The return flight's captain then confronted the attacking co-pilot, with several passengers and one crew member assisting him, and eventually diverted the flight to a safe landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... .
The investigation is ongoing, and Shamsi said the UAE Public Prosecution will announce any new findings.
Despite reports of efforts to bring stranded Israelis home from the United Arab Emirates, Koster said she and the other members of her tour group still do not know how they will return to Israel.
Nava Koster, an Israeli stranded in Dubai since Tuesday, told Walla on Wednesday that the alternative flight she had booked for Thursday had also been canceled. "The flight we bought tickets for tomorrow has also been canceled. All the rescue flights have been canceled," she said.
Despite reports of efforts to bring stranded Israelis home from the United Arab Emirates, Koster said she and the other members of her tour group still do not know how they will return to Israel.
Koster departed on September 27 for an organized tour of Sri Lanka with Israeli travel company Eshet Tours. The group was scheduled to return from Sri Lanka on October 6 via Dubai, with a connecting flydubai flight to Tel Aviv. That flight was canceled amid disruptions following the incident aboard a flydubai flight to Israel and the suspension of service on the route.
"Eshet Tours abandoned us and cut off all contact with us," Koster alleged. "There are no rescue flights at all, despite what is being reported in the media. Our entire group is scattered across various places because Eshet Tours did not arrange anything for us: no hotel, no alternative flights, no transportation, and no food. I believe we are not the only group of Israelis still stranded in Dubai."
Koster said group members had tried to make their own travel arrangements, but available flights were either full or prohibitively expensive. For a family of seven, she said, buying replacement tickets could cost thousands of dollars.
ISRAELIS STUCK WITHOUT MEDICATION, UNABLE TO AFFORD RETURN TICKETS
The situation is particularly difficult for two members of the group who are nearing 80 and need medication. "For them, the prolonged wait and uncertainty are not merely a matter of convenience," Koster wrote in a message to Walla.
She asked Walla to investigate how many Israelis remain in Dubai, how many are able to board flights described as rescue flights, and what assistance is available to those who cannot afford thousands of dollars for replacement tickets.
"There is a large gap between reports of ’rescue flights’ and the reality on the ground," she said. "We are still here, waiting for a solution and a way to get home."
ARKIA CANCELS RESCUE FLIGHTS Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... Israeli airline Arkia announced that its rescue flights from Dubai to Israel had been canceled.
"Authorization to operate the flights was valid until yesterday, but in the evening, the authorities decided to revoke the permits for Israeli airlines to operate flights from Dubai. Since then, Arkia has worked with all relevant parties and done everything possible to obtain renewed authorization and operate the flights. Unfortunately, these efforts have not succeeded as of this hour, and we are therefore forced to cancel the flights," the airline said.
Eshet Tours said: "We understand the distress and uncertainty passengers are experiencing following the cancellation of flights from Dubai to Israel, and we are continuing to work to help bring home those who have not yet returned. The company has been, and remains, in regular contact with passengers through the tour guide and its emergency hotline. Some members of the group have already returned to Israel. Unfortunately, the cancellation of the flight on which some passengers were due to return has further delayed their return. We are addressing the situation continuously and assessing the available alternatives to find the best solution for their return as soon as possible. The company continues to assist all passengers who remain abroad and stay in contact with them until they return to Israel."
[Jpost] A said the Israel-Hamas War had been a “good excuse to recruit,” with videos of the war in Gaza regularly played to children to incite them against Israel.
The Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s have forcibly recruited children to fight in their war against Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and the Saudi-backed government, threatening families in territories they control and indoctrinating young people to believe they will be fighting against Jews and Zionists, a journalist who formerly worked in Houthi-controlled territory for a decade told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
"A," who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that he feared the Houthis would punish his friends and colleagues still working in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... if they became aware of his communication with the Post. He noted that the Houthis are already holding several international humanitarian workers hostage, in addition to local aid employees.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced earlier this week that the Houthis have already sent at least eight people involved in human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... and humanitarian work for criminal prosecution on espionage-related charges punishable by death, since August 18.
Though the Houthis’ use of child soldiers has long been documented, A said, "The problem is escalating and increasing with the recent developments."
HOUTHIS THREATEN CITIZENS WITH DEATH IN ORDER TO RECRUIT MORE SOLDIERS
"Whenever they control new areas, the first thing they do is force people to be recruited. Otherwise, they will be punished, they will be imprisoned, or they will be killed," he explained.
"So this is one of the most significant issues and one of the least reported issues when it comes to the war in Yemen, and Houthis also want to compensate for what they lost over the past days because they lost a lot of fighters in Mokha and in their recent fighting and battles."
On the day that A spoke to the Post, he received a call from humanitarian contacts on the ground in Houthi-controlled territory warning him that the Houthis had begun indiscriminately shelling homes and schools and that bodies of women and kiddies were being piled high.
Given that A spent years working in Houthi-controlled territory, the Post asked him how the Houthis could justify killing Yemeni civilians, particularly given that the vast majority of their victims are Moslem.
Explaining that the reason the Houthis are comfortable killing their own people is the same reason that makes a peace agreement with them impossible, A said that it was "firmly" embedded in their ideology that they have the "divine right to govern... not only controlling all of Yemen, but also they want to control Mecca and Medina and Saudi Arabia."
"They believe that they have the divine right to govern the world, not only the Arabian Peninsula, and so they consider people who fight them or who try to resist them as traitors, and recently as Zionists," he continued, adding that the issue has only worsened since October 7, 2023.
HOUTHIS USE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR TO RECRUIT CHILD SOLDIERS
A said the Israel-Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... War had been a "good excuse to recruit," with videos of 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... regularly played to children to incite them against Israel. He added that, before October 7, there had been growing discontent with the Houthis, particularly over unpaid wages; still, many were more willing to tolerate the missed payments either because they wanted to support the Paleostinian cause or because they did not want to be labeled as Zionists.
Estimating that tens of thousands of children had been enlisted into the Houthis’ ranks since Hamas’s invasion, A noted that children aged between 12 and 15 had been captured attempting to fight government forces, proclaiming that they had traveled to the front to fight the Jews.
The anti-Israel popular opinion in Yemen among the entire population, A said, had also made the indoctrination of children easier, as many didn’t need to shift their thinking on the issue dramatically to align with the Houthis.
"They exploited what they called the Islamic background and people’s support for the Paleostinian cause," he said, adding that it has now begun to backfire and there is a growing number of Yemenis who feel resentful toward the Paleostinians.
"People are fed up even with the Paleostinian cause because it has caused a lot of damage to the country. The sentiment of people toward the Gaza issue and the Paleostinian cause has gone down sharply because they saw how the Houthis decided to kill Yemenis in the name of Gaza.
"They saw how the Houthis isolated Yemen by attacking vessels in the Red Sea in the name of Gaza. They saw how the Houthis even cut the income of thousands of fishermen who went jobless because of the Houthis’ ventures in the Red Sea," A added.
"So people saw the economic consequences of the Houthis’ actions over the past three years and started complaining and also started realizing that the Paleostinian cause is not our cause. Yemen is our cause. So this sentiment has shifted dramatically, but they continued to recruit and mobilize support inside Yemen in the name of fighting the US and Israel."
Adding to the bitterness, A said it was hard watching pro-Paleostinian activists in the West celebrate the Houthis and ignore comments from Yemenis trying to tell them that the group was a terrorist organization even if it partially aligned with their viewpoint.
"Gaza became a trend and profitable thing for many people, including Paleostinians, and the shocking fact is how many Paleostinian activists, journalists, and thinkers turn and support the Houthis at the expense of Yemenis and at the expense of Yemeni suffering," A said.
by Leonid Tsukanov
Recently, the situation in Yemen has been the focus of attention in the Middle East. The stakes in the growing conflict are so high that even Syria's transitional leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has promised to help pacify the troubled republic.
At the same time, the situation in Syria itself is still far from allowing Damascus to project influence outward.
Show value
Syrian representatives visited Riyadh during the emergency meeting of the Mecca Pact (while not being part of the alliance), and the country's interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, received an audience with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although the content of their lengthy conversation was not disclosed.
The day after the meeting, Reuters, citing unnamed Saudi courtiers, reported that Riyadh had requested Damascus's help in containing the Houthis, positioning this, among other things, as a kind of test before fully joining the "Mecca Pact."
The Syrians apparently found the offer tempting. Al-Sharaa had previously attempted to single-handedly suppress Lebanon's Hezbollah in a similar manner. Now, the country had a chance to demonstrate its strategic value to three major powers at once.
According to Axios, Damascus is considering sending 10,000 to 20,000 troops to Yemen to fight the Houthis. However, the exact format of this deployment remains unclear.
Getting involved in a regional war without properly addressing domestic political issues would be highly reckless for the new Syrian elites, especially given that Damascus's entry into the campaign could anger the Houthi-friendly Hezbollah and lead to the opening of yet another front.
The al-Sharaa cabinet denies Western newspaper reports, but generally does not deny that it is ready to “help in one way or another” its partners, but without sending a contingent directly to Yemen.
At the same time, Syria is unlikely to be able to join the campaign under the pretext of protecting the skies: the lack of air defense and missile defense systems does not allow it to completely close even its own territory, let alone its partners.
The situation is getting tense
Interestingly, despite al-Shara'a's intentions to project power outward, the situation within Syria itself still leaves much to be desired. Despite the transitional government's noticeable strengthening in the capital and surrounding areas, the periphery remains unstable.
The number of unidentified terrorist attacks has increased significantly compared to the summer of 2026. For example, on September 30, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a civilian bus carrying workers from a trade and industrial company in Homs.
The incident left seven people dead and four others injured. Meanwhile, unknown groups of attackers have begun a systematic hunt for local minorities—at least seven attacks on Druze, Kurdish, and Alawite homes have been recorded. These attacks were carried out in various ways, but invariably with particular brutality.
Damascus is in disarray. No local force (including the terrorist underground) has claimed responsibility for the attacks, so local security officials are searching almost blindly for the culprits—sometimes among Hezbollah supporters, sometimes among former terrorists and ordinary bandits.
This is causing irritation on the periphery – rumors are increasingly circulating about attempts to cover up for Damascus loyalists, which is not adding to the popularity of al-Sharaa’s cabinet.
However, the biggest incident in recent weeks was a sudden explosion at a gas pipeline in the northeast of the country, between Al-Shola and Deir ez-Zor. The fire caused significant damage to the complex, forcing it to temporarily close.
As a result, the Tishreen hydroelectric power station and several other power plants (including Deir Ali and Nasiriyah) were effectively shut down. Power outages began in the northeast.
And along with them, local protests. Moreover, not long before this, the Syrian Ministry of Energy had revised tariffs upward several times in an attempt to curb rising energy costs.
Damascus recently reached an agreement with Baghdad to ensure safe overland shipments of Iraqi oil, bypassing the blocked Strait of Hormuz, so the Syrians should be on guard. It's possible that unknown attackers will try to strike in this direction as well.
Take advantage of the situation
Incidentally, the turbulent situation in Syria and beyond has proven to be very beneficial for Israel.
Taking advantage of the shift in attention of most regional players to Yemen, IDF forces have increased their offensive in Syria and expanded their zone of control in the Golan Heights.
According to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, Israeli forces made about a hundred local breakthroughs during September, about half of which were on the border of the buffer zone.
Advance detachments of the Jewish state were detected in Quneitra, western Daraa, and even in the Beit Jinn area west of Damascus. The number of strongholds established by the IDF in Syrian territory increased to 11.
In addition, Israeli forces have stepped up their filtration of the local population: over the past week, they arrested at least three people, accusing them of attempting to infiltrate military installations and carrying out subversive activities on behalf of Damascus, and also conducted house searches in the western towns of Daraa and Quneitra.
In response to the Syrian authorities' objections and demands to stop taking arbitrary action and cease violating the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, the contingent's command responded with a series of artillery shelling of the southern regions.
Overall, Damascus finds itself in a paradoxical situation: unable to respond to internal challenges, the country is increasingly seeking to help its powerful neighbors.
It's quite possible there's a subtle calculation behind this—any service rendered can be demanded in return. And Damascus has a list of such requests prepared in advance.
Posted by: badanov ||
10/10/2026 00:00 ||
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[FOX] President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to “immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter.”
He added on Truth Social, “Additionally, based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries, Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel. Between our TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz, and this great announcement on Russian Energy, Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST! Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority.”
The Treasury Department acknowledged the move, saying in an X post that its "Office of Foreign Assets Control is immediately issuing a temporary general license to allow the supply of Russian diesel to the global market."
[Jpost] The organization has called for volunteers to join a program providing accompaniment and maintaining a presence alongside Palestinian communities ahead of the upcoming olive harvest.
The Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry revealed on Wednesday that the Global Sumud Flotilla, the organization behind 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... -bound flotilla in which Greta "Pippi" Thunberg ...an autistic sixteen year old Swedish expert on climate change, though I guess she's older now... participated, had been recruiting volunteers for activities in the West Bank.
The organization has called for volunteers to join a program providing accompaniment and maintaining a presence alongside Paleostinian communities ahead of the upcoming olive harvest.
The findings were uncovered as part of the ministry's efforts to identify and track foreign activists planning to enter Israel and the West Bank as part of organized international campaigns.
According to information collected by the ministry's National Command Center, the organization is currently recruiting international activists for a program that includes a stay of at least two weeks, training in "direct action," political and media training, and a commitment to continued political activity in their home countries after returning.
As presented by the organization, the program aims to go beyond maintaining a temporary presence on the ground. It seeks to turn participants into "catalysts" for further political organizing and activism in their home countries, as part of what the organization itself describes as "the broader confrontation with Zionism as a political project."
According to assessments, the program could help develop a long-term international network of activists, although the organization does not explicitly state this as an objective.
The registration page describes the initiative as being led by Paleostinian organizers. According to a post on the organization's X/Twitter account, the application deadline was October 7, 2026.
INTERNATIONAL ACTIVISTS RECRUITED AHEAD OF OLIVE HARVEST
The program joins several other campaigns identified as recruiting international activists to the West Bank ahead of the 2026 olive harvest season, including Go Paleostine, Protect the Harvest, Faz3a, and the International Solidarity Movement. These organizations also describe their activities as providing a "protective presence" alongside Paleostinian communities.
The experiences, training, and connections developed on the ground are intended to support continued political organizing in participants' home countries and contribute, in the words of the registration page, to "the broader confrontation with Zionism as a political project."
According to the registration page, Paleostinian organizers and communities determine where volunteers will be deployed, which activities will take place, and when they will be carried out. Participants are required to follow these instructions, even in cases where they would have chosen to act differently.
Before beginning their accompaniment activities, participants are expected to undergo "training in nonviolence and direct action." The organization seeks to extend the program's influence beyond the volunteers' activities in the West Bank.
Applicants who have difficulty financing their travel are encouraged to indicate this, and many participants raise donations to fund their stays.
The registration page also addresses the possibility of being denied entry to Israel. Using the organization's terminology, it states that entry is controlled by the "Israeli occupation authorities" and that an applicant's chances of being admitted may be affected by their passport, name, travel history, family background, and publicly expressed political activity.
Applicants who are unable to enter through Israel may be referred to other activities.
DIASPORA AFFAIRS MINISTRY WARNS FOREIGN ACTIVISTS
Avi Cohen-Scali, director-general of the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry, said, "The State of Israel will not serve as a playground for foreign anarchists. Anyone seeking to come here as part of an organized network whose purpose is to create provocations, disrupt public order, and act against the State of Israel should know that Israel identifies them, locates them, and will take action against them using all the legal tools at its disposal."
"The activity does not begin at Israel's entry points, nor does it end there. The ministry is working to map the activists, organizations, and infrastructure involved in these campaigns, transfer the information to the relevant authorities, and advance appropriate measures both inside and outside Israel, in accordance with the law and in cooperation with the relevant bodies," he added.
"We will act against the activists and the infrastructure behind them, both in Israel and abroad. The message is clear and unequivocal: Anyone who acts in an organized manner to undermine public order and harm the State of Israel and its legitimacy will encounter a state that is prepared, determined, and active, both at home and abroad."
Amsterdam, October 9, 2026, 5:38 PM — Regnum News Agency. On October 9, the International Criminal Court (ICC) strongly condemned the imposition of US sanctions against the court, calling them an unprecedented step.
"This is an attempt to obstruct the administration of justice and prevent the court from fulfilling the purposes for which it was created," the court's press service said in a statement.
The ICC called Washington's actions an assault on the rule of law and the foundations of the international legal order, as well as an attack on the simple principle that no one is above the law. The court noted that this unprecedented US move followed a series of sanctions against 13 independent judges and prosecutors "who serve the cause of justice."
The US administration imposed sanctions against the ICC earlier that day. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the court illegitimate and stated that Washington would undermine its ability to function. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control confirmed the ICC's inclusion on the sanctions list. The restrictions now apply to the organization itself, not just its individual representatives.
The United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC. In January 2025, the House of Representatives passed a bill imposing sanctions on the court's officials. Restrictions could be imposed on ICC officials who persecute US citizens and their allies. Rubio accused the ICC of waging war against the United States and promised to dismantle the court "brick by brick" with the support of its allies.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A body of United Nations experts on Friday urged Iranian authorities to immediately halt all executions, warning that Tehran is among the select few nations that still employs capital punishment and by far the “most prolific” per capita.
“Iran has seen too much death: lives lost to war and lives taken by their own State,” the experts said in a press release.
“Iran’s death penalty is used to silence dissent, with broadly defined national security offences recasting peaceful activity as a threat. That must change,” they said. “Iran’s own history shows that grievances left unaddressed resurface, however brutally they are repressed. Executions do not end dissent, but breed the next wave of it.”
Iranian forces have long used executions and public hangings as tools to quell protests and stifle public dissent, underscoring growing concerns among human rights organizations over the use of capital punishment.
In September alone, authorities executed at least 68 prisoners - two of which were carried out against protestors sentenced in January - including four women and four political prisoners, and two carried out in public, according to a report by Oslo-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights based on cases it was able to verify utilizing sources on the ground.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
10/10/2026 00:00 ||
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QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Iraq has rejected Syria’s request to repatriate around 4,000 Syrian detainees suspected of links to the Islamic State (ISIS), who were transferred from detention facilities in Syria to Iraqi custody earlier this year, Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Aboudi told The Associated Press.
Al-Aboudi said a recent meeting involving Iraqi, Syrian and U.S. officials addressed the fate of the detainees. Damascus requested that the Syrian nationals be handed over for trial in Syria, but Baghdad declined.
Iraq has returned around 50 Syrian detainees after determining that they were not members of ISIS, al-Aboudi told AP. Iraqi authorities have also identified approximately 400 Syrian detainees who were not affiliated with the group and could be released.
Hundreds of the Syrians still held in Iraq are believed to be senior members of IS, according to al-Aboudi.
“Iraq is conducting investigations, and anyone proved to have committed crimes in Iraq will be tried under Iraqi law,” he said.
Al-Aboudi added that detainees from countries that do not impose the death penalty would not face capital punishment in Iraq. Those convicted could potentially be transferred to their home countries to serve the remainder of their sentences if prisoner-transfer agreements with Iraq are in place.
He also said Baghdad had requested $500 million from the United States and other members of the international coalition against ISIS to help cover detention and prison-security costs. The coalition had expressed its willingness to provide support, but Iraq had not yet received the funding, he said.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
10/10/2026 00:00 ||
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[Jpost] Through the evening of October 6, Israeli intelligence was fed the impression that there was a state of routine in Gaza, allowing Hamas to conceal its plans while arming and concentrating its forces.
Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... ’s leadership planned to use strategic deception to lull Israel into a false sense of security before the October 7 attacks, activating double agents as late as the eve of the invasion to feed the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) false information, as revealed in a new study by Lt.-Col. (res.) Yehonatan Duhoch-Halevi published on Wednesday by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
A core part of Hamas’s strategy was conceived in early 2022 and sought to create the impression that Israel’s "carrot and stick" policy, which combined threats to assassinate senior Hamas leaders with economic relief 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... , was working, according to the research.
Through the evening of October 6, Israeli intelligence was fed the impression that conditions in Gaza were routine, thus allowing Hamas to conceal its plans while arming and concentrating its forces, according to a senior figure in Hamas’s military wing.
According to the terrorist’s testimony, Hamas identified an Israeli espionage network in 2017 and was able to recruit some members of the network to become double agents operating under Hamas’s direction.
The IDF investigation into the failures leading up to the massacre noted that, on October 6, indications of a Hamas attack were received alongside reassuring signs, although the investigation did not explain what those reassuring signs were. The Shin Bet investigation reported that "human intelligence sources," or intelligence agents, had confirmed that the terror group was operating routinely.
Hamas officials have since acknowledged the use of deception as part of the preparations for the attack. In a late 2023 interview with Ammar Taqi, senior Hamas official Khaled Mashal admitted that, ahead of October 7, Hamas carried out strategic and tactical deception, including conveying "reassurance" messages.
"Regarding the aspect of strategic deception and the method of deception, as I mentioned, there was a general feeling that [Gaza] [under Hamas leadership] was focusing on its affairs, and wanted to bring in a certain amount of fuel, electricity and aid, meaning [Gaza] was licking its wounds and pains because of the blockade imposed on it, and after the 21 war [Hamas] did not respond to the escalation [in actions] carried out by the occupation in al-Quds and al-Aqsa," Mashal said.
"For example, as I mentioned, during the previous Ramadan, in this year 2023, on days 13 or 14 in the middle of Ramadan, they [the Israelis] broke into al-Aqsa, and the public [wondered] where was Gaza? The enemy began to analyze and thought that Gaza was occupied with itself. The holidays came from September 15 to October 6 [2023], and then, behold, the movement's leadership wisely sent deception messages to the enemy once again. We know some of them."
HAMAS INSPIRED BY EGYPT'S DECEPTION DURING YOM KIPPUR WAR
"The [Jewish] holidays came from September 15 to October 6 [2023], and then, behold, the movement’s leadership wisely sent deception messages to the enemy once again. We know some of them."
Mashal also admitted that he took inspiration from Egypt’s strategy during the Yom Kippur War, when Egypt attacked Israel on a religious holiday and shared that Cairo had told soldiers to go on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca to lull Jerusalem into believing that no war was coming.
"A message, in order to fulfill its purpose, must be an indirect message, meaning messages that will not be understood [by the enemy] to be deception messages, which the enemy will swallow. The enemy also uses deception against others, and the resistance succeeded in deceiving the enemy, and it picked up false messages," Mashal said at the time. "After that, there was concealment, meaning avoiding exposing the preparations: Of course, the tunnels..."
The JCFA study noted that Hamas-affiliated political commentator Issam Shawar said that Hamas had been taken by surprise by a similar strategy a few months earlier when Israel began Operation Shield and Arrow against 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... (PIJ) in May 2023. According to Shawar, one day before the launch of the operation, Israel carried out a deception operation by informing Hamas that it would allow the transfer of the financial grant from 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... to pay the salaries of public-sector employees.
The use of deception by Hamas was also noted by Paleostinian journalists immediately after the October 7 attack. On October 8, 2023, JCFA noted that Paleostinian journalists had commented on Hamas’s use of deception tactics.
Fadi Ramadan noted that Hamas had carried out two separate deception operations.
The first created a false impression in Israel that the planned attack would come through the tunnels, whereas Hamas launched a ground invasion.
The second involved conveying to Israel that the "carrot and stick" policy had been effective.
JCFA also suggested that former Paleostinian Authority (PA) minister for prisoner affairs Sufian Abu Zayda had been deceived by Hamas’s plans.
Explaining that the terror group had a channel of contact with Israel through Zayda, JCFA said that the former PA official was enlisted to negotiate a deal with Israel to release Paleostinian prisoners for the bodies of Israelis already held in Hamas captivity before October 7.
Zayda had reportedly met with Ghazi Hamad in Gaza, who confirmed that now-assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had authorized the deal. After his return to Israel, Zayda contacted a retired Shin Bet officer who arranged a meeting between him and active Shin Bet personnel in Ashkelon.
In July 2022, Zayda met with Sinwar in Gaza, in the presence of Rawhi Mushtaha, where Sinwar presented his priorities regarding a possible agreement with Israel concerning the release of prisoners.
SINWAR-ZAIDA MEETING LED TO INCREASED ISRAELI INTEREST IN DEAL WITH HAMAS
According to Duhoch-Halevi’s assessment, the meeting between Sinwar and Zayda strengthened Israel’s interest in a deal, and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar personally met with Zayda to hear from him the conditions set by Hamas for a possible deal.
Zayda claimed Bar asked him to convey a message to Sinwar that Israel would be willing to advance far-reaching economic measures in Gaza.
The negotiations between the sides advanced to the stage of deliberations over the names of the prisoners to be released as part of the deal, and drafts were exchanged between the sides.
On September 14, 2023, two days after Hamas conducted its major annual military exercise, Zayda met with Sinwar, again in the presence of Mushtaha, and Sinwar dictated a message to Zayda for the Israeli side, according to which "by the end of September we will put cards on the table that will cause an earthquake regarding the negotiations, and they should prepare to empty the prisons."
Zayda was asked to convey this message verbatim to the Shin Bet representatives who were in contact with him, and another meeting with Yahya Sinwar was scheduled for October 8. Abu Zayda traveled to Israel, conveyed the message to Shin Bet personnel, and returned to Gaza on October 5, ahead of another planned meeting with Sinwar.
"It appears that Abu Zayda was a component of the deception plan operated by the Hamas leadership in an attempt to convince Israel that it was serious in its intentions to reach an agreement for the exchange of Paleostinian prisoners for Israelis (living and dead) held in Gaza, as a move that would lead to the regulation of relations between Israel and the Hamas government on the basis of economic relief on Israel’s part and infrastructure development in the Gaza Strip," Duhoch-Halevi said, adding that it was "reasonable" to think Sinwar’s scheduled meeting with Zayda on October 8 "served as a smokescreen for the secret continuation of military preparations."
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack said Syria plays a key role in efforts to reduce regional tensions, following talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Istanbul on Thursday.
In a post on X, Barrack described Syria as a key component of the complex regional picture, saying it was helping the Middle East find ways to ease tensions among neighboring countries.
Barrack said he was pleased to meet al-Shaibani to discuss shared priorities in addressing regional threats. He added that history rarely offers the region an opportunity to rearrange its affairs, saying such an opportunity was available now.
According to Syria’s Foreign Ministry, the meeting focused on bilateral relations, regional developments, and prospects for cooperation and coordination on issues of mutual interest.
The ministry said the two sides also discussed efforts to support regional security and stability.
The meeting came amid continued diplomatic engagement between Damascus and Washington on bilateral relations and regional issues.
Posted by: badanov ||
10/10/2026 00:00 ||
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"They can't go see their plastic surgeon in London, their girlfriend in Paris, and their money in Geneva," Bessent told Newsmax on Thursday, arguing that restrictions on flights and financial access were leaving Iranian officials increasingly isolated...
Bessent said the campaign extended beyond financial sanctions to the US blockade of Iranian shipping and efforts to restrict air and land routes. He said the UAE and Oman were cooperating with Washington, while the US was working with Pakistan and Turkey "to cut off all the land routes."
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
10/10/2026 00:00 ||
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Who's in the News
25
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5
Hamas
3
Govt of Iran
3
Govt of Syria/HTS
1
Malevolent NGO
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Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
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Moslem Colonists
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Sublime Porte
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Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
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BREAKING: Israel says pilot tried to hijack flydubai flight to Tel Aviv that diverted, landed in Saudi Arabia
