Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Government Corruption

Thar's Gold In Them Thar NGOs!

2025-05-24

[HotAir] You'll remember one of the biggest drop-mic revelations was the $20B slush fund new Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin, along with Musk's DOGE waste-huntin' hounds found stashed in a sketchy secret Citibank account.

That money was allocated to just eight climate-related NGOs in last-minute 'awards' from the Biden administration as they shoveled bucks out the door like a steam-driven locomotive's fireman flings coal. The most egregious of which was an earmarked $2B award to a Stacey Abrams-connected NGO called 'Power Forward Communities,' which was only a little over a year old and had less than $100 in the bank.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that the Biden EPA awarded a group linked to Stacey Abrams with no real track record a 2 billion dollar environmental grant in 2024.

Everyone has been dying to know more as Zeldin turned to clawing back the money.

In the meantime, other folks started digging into the Power Forward Communities (PFC) NGO, and one of them uncovered the web of deep money progressive tentacles that run all through these seemingly humanitarian organizations. Sadly, they are, in fact, usually only money laundering schemes for progressive elites and their foot soldiers.

Integral to the PFC story is a fellow named Shaun Donovan, who cut his political progressive teeth as the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. He left the city to become, first, Obama's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and then his director of the Office of Budget Management.

When Obama left, Donovan knew he needed a new gig, so he slid on over to the Ford Foundation, which lobbies the federal government using Henry Ford's fortune. Eventually, through all his connections, he became the new CEO of Enterprise Community Partners (ECP).

The previous CEO of this non-profit NGO - one wealthy enough to boast about investing $72B for a million energy efficient homes - earned $900K a year, which is quite a chunk for a charity, you'd think. But, according to Mr Chavous' research, the co-CEO pulled down a cool $800K, and the NGO spent over 27% of all its considerable income on salaries.

What does this have to do with Power Forward Communities (PFC)?

For one thing, the well-compensated and connected CEO of ECP, Mr Donovan, is the one who then formed that NGO and bragged about scoring the $2B award for his umbrella organization.

Small, incestuous, lucrative world, these NGOs, aren't they?

It also explains what went down in Lee Zeldin's testimony to Congress yesterday about the specifics that they have been finding about the proposal that came with PFC's grant paperwork.

What was in the documents required to meet the 'eligibility requirements' for the federal handouts was so outrageous, it blew even the Biden administration EPA staff's mind. To the point where, when they were screening the paperwork, as internal documents have subsequently revealed, they wrote notes and memorandums about it to cover their own asterisks. One staff member reviewing the proposed salary structure thought they were so out of whack that they worried it might look bad should the public catch a glimpse.

But, if you look at the mothership, ECP, that's where they all are as far as numbers go.

On 12 May, PFC filed a status report with the D.C. district court claiming 'irreparable harm,' as they still could not access their Citbank funds because of mean old Lee Zeldin.

Link

-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

RFK Jr's highly anticipated MAHA report paints dismal state of child health, national security concerns

2025-05-23

[FoxNews] The report shows today's children may live shorter lives than their parents despite US outspending other nations on healthcare

President Donald Trump

...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried....
's Make America Healthy Again Commission released its anticipated report assessing chronic diseases that have gripped U.S. youths in recent years, pinning blame for a spike in childhood issues on a host of variables stretching from ingesting foods with added chemicals to an increase in prescribing pharmaceuticals to young kids.

"After a century of costly and ineffective approaches, the federal government will lead a coordinated transformation of our food, health, and scientific systems," the report, released Thursday and reviewed by Fox News Digital, outlined. "This strategic realignment will ensure that all Americans—today and in the future—live longer, healthier lives, supported by systems that prioritize prevention, wellbeing, and resilience."

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. serves as chair of the commission and attended a call with the media earlier Thursday, when he explained that the report is a "diagnosis" of the state of U.S. health, and that the "prescription" for the ongoing issues will be released in 100 days at the end of August in the form of policy recommendations for the federal government.

The report's findings include teenage depression nearly doubling from 2009 to 2019, more than one-in-five children over the age of 6 being considered obese, one-in-31 children diagnosed with autism by age 8 and childhood cancer spiking by 40% since 1975.

"Over 40% of the roughly 73 million children (aged 0-17) in the United States have at least one chronic health condition, according to the CDC, such as asthma, allergies, obesity, autoimmune diseases, or behavioral disorders," the report stated. "Although estimates vary depending on the conditions included, all studies show an alarming increase over time."

Chronic diseases have a chilling effect on national security, commission members said in a Thursday morning phone call with the media. Roughly 75% of America's youth aged 17—24 do not qualify to serve in the military due to obesity, asthma, allergies, autoimmune diseases or behavioral disorders, they said.

"We now have the most obese, depressed, disabled, medicated population in the history of the world, and we cannot keep going down the same road," Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary said in the phone call with the media. "So this is an amazing day. I hope this marks the grand pivot from a system that is entirely reactionary to a system that will now be proactive."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

UN says it has ‘collected and dispatched’ 90 truckloads of aid into Gaza

2025-05-22

[IsraelTimes] Announcement that distribution of humanitarian goods has started comes after UN officials accused Israel of preventing collection of supplies; rockets fired from Gaza land in Strip

The United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
on Wednesday confirmed that it collected and began distributing around 90 truckloads of aid into 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...
, marking the first aid distribution in the besieged coastal territory since early March, after UN officials claimed they were unable to pick up supplies at the border with Israel.

Three days after Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations on Wednesday "collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza," Stephane Dujarric, front man for UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
, said in a statement.

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) earlier announced that 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid

entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. COGAT said the aid delivery came "following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon."

The trucks contained flour, baby food and medical equipment, according to COGAT.

The aid underwent an inspection first by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

COGAT did not address the UN allegations that the IDF had prevented the collection of aid on the Gaza side of the border.

Nahid Shahaiber, a major transport company owner, said 75 trucks of flour and over a dozen more carrying nutritional supplements and sugar were inside the southern area of Rafah and witnesses said trucks carrying flour had been seen in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Also Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said three rockets were launched from northern Gaza, setting off sirens in the border communities of Zikim and Netiv Haasara.

All three projectiles fell short in Gaza, the army added.

No injuries were caused in the attack, after which the IDF’s Arabic-language front man issued evacuation orders for residents in parts of northern Gaza.

Over the weekend, the IDF launched a major new offensive dubbed "Gideon’s Chariots" launched over the weekend, which Israel says seeks to destroy Hamas
Hamas

..always the voice of sweet reason...
and seize and retain the whole territory, while relocating Paleostinians across the enclave.

On Tuesday, IDF chief Eyal Zamir threatened to ramp up the campaign even further if Hamas did not agree to Israel’s demands that it release the hostages and give up power.

"It will face intense firepower," he said. "We will expand the ground maneuver, conquer additional territory, clear and destroy the terror infrastructure until it is defeated."

Israel is seeking to pressure Hamas into freeing 58 hostages remaining in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be alive, and demands that the group relinquish power before ending the war.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled a high-level negotiating team from Doha, where talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal appeared to be stuck.

🇵🇸 VIDEO: In food-starved Gaza, residents have resorted to grinding lentils, pasta and rice for baking bread amid severe shortages of flour. pic.twitter.com/eTwSJa7Rnu
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 19, 2025

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Kirill Dmitriev on US-Russia negotiations on Ukraine

2025-05-21

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Text taken from a news article posted on kadmitriev

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics:
[ColonelCassad] One of the participants in direct negotiations with the US, Kirill Dmitriev, on the current state of the negotiation process between the US and Russia on Ukraine.

The dialogue between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump is extremely important for the US to understand the root causes, essence and possible solutions to the conflict in Ukraine. The fact that this dialogue contributes to the balanced and constructive position of the Trump administration so far is causing hysteria among European politicians, European and British media.

Titanic efforts of Western politicians and media are aimed at disrupting the constructive dialogue between Russia and the US.

We will continue to work on possible mutually beneficial projects with the US in the investment and economic spheres.

Western media on the shock of European leaders following the call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump - Part 1

Axios: Trump's compliance with Putin stunned European leaders during the call Barak Ravid, Dave Lawler - Axios

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and five other European leaders joined a conference call with Donald Trump immediately after his conversation with Vladimir Putin on Monday. They were hoping to hear that Putin had agreed to a cease-fire — or that the U.S. would sanction him if he refused.

Instead, Trump said Putin had agreed to talks, emphasized that the U.S. would not participate in those talks, and opposed sanctioning Putin at this stage, two people on the call and one familiar with the details told Axios.

Why It Matters: Trump seemed closer to walking away from the issue entirely, the people said. Some leaders on the call were “surprised” or even “shocked.”

“I think something’s going to happen. If it doesn’t, I’m just going to step aside and they’re going to have to continue on their own. This was a European situation and it should have stayed a European situation,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office hours after the calls.

◾️How it happened: Trump spoke briefly with Zelensky on Monday morning and, according to sources, asked him what to tell Putin.

Zelensky was happy that Trump called him for advice. He asked him to demand an immediate ceasefire, threaten new sanctions against Russia, and not make any concessions to Putin without Ukraine’s approval.

◾️Behind the scenes: After the call with Putin ended, Trump contacted Zelensky again — this time, the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Finland, and the European Commission also participated in the conversation.

“The second call was longer and different in nature from the first,” Zelensky later said.

While one of the European participants called the conversation “constructive,” another source said Zelensky found it “bad.” The White House declined to comment.

Trump told the leaders that Putin had agreed to immediately begin direct talks on a ceasefire. According to one of the sources, there was a few seconds of confused silence.

Zelensky recalled that Putin had agreed to talks before, with the first round taking place in Istanbul on Friday. Trump, according to the sources, did not respond directly to this.

The sources also say that Zelensky and several other leaders pointed out to Trump that it was he who had previously proposed starting peace talks with an immediate 30-day ceasefire.

Western media on the shock of European leaders after the call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump - part 2

◾️Tension point: Other European leaders on the call asked about the possibility of US sanctions against Russia, but Trump responded that he thought it was a bad idea and stressed that, in his opinion, Putin wanted to make a deal.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intervened to ask why it was not possible to declare a ceasefire for at least two weeks while the talks were being prepared. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz asked what concessions Russia would be willing to make.

Trump responded that Putin would present a “memorandum of peace” with terms for a ceasefire and an end to the war. One of the sources said Trump asked Putin to come up with “something we can work with,” rather than a proposal that would be rejected out of hand.

Zelensky, according to the sources, noted that previous talks, including meetings last week, had yielded no results and stressed that unless Trump pressed, Putin would not budge.

Between the lines: Participants in the call were surprised that Trump seemed pleased with what Putin had said and presented it as some kind of progress, although the Russian leader’s position had essentially not changed, the sources said.

◾️What’s next: Trump said that Russia and Ukraine could hold direct bilateral talks without intermediaries, since they are the ones who best understand the details of the conflict.

Meloni and Merz disagreed and insisted that the US and European countries should be involved in the negotiations.

“Somebody has to be the judge,” Meloni said. Merz suggested a meeting with all parties.

Trump later suggested the Vatican as a possible venue for the talks.

“I think something will happen. And if not, I’ll just step aside and they’ll have to carry on. This was a European situation and it should have stayed European,” Trump repeated to reporters.

◾️What’s happening now: Finnish President Alexander Stubb asked Trump what the next steps are.

“I don’t know. Somebody has to come out and say whether the talks are going well or not, and then we’ll decide what to do,” Trump replied.

Europe's main problem is that the US and RF did not let it into the negotiating table on Ukraine, although Europe really wanted to.That is why Europe has a great desire to disrupt separate negotiations between the US and RF, where Ukraine is discussed without Ukraine.

Over the past week, the US and RF have turned all the EU's "red lines" into "brown lines".

Yesterday, the cocaine Fuhrer again squealed that Ukraine will not withdraw its troops from the occupied territories and will not recognize them as part of Russia. And he will not refuse to join NATO either. A bid for the summer campaign.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Dem Rep. Eugene Vindman hit with FEC complaint after campaign promoted twin brother's book

2025-05-20

[NY Post] Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) was slapped with a campaign finance complaint Monday, accusing him of using campaign money to promote a book authored by his twin brother, Alexander — a key witness in President Trump’s first impeachment.

According to the complaint by Americans for Public Trust (APT), Eugene’s campaign team touted Alexander’s book “The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine” in fundraising email blasts sent Feb. 27 and March 7 of this year.

The Post previously reported that Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that Eugene’s campaign paid $38,783 to a South Florida bookstore where Alexander was concurrently signing copies of the tome as a “fundraising expense.”

“It is clearly illegal to use campaign resources for personal use, and that is just what Representative Vindman has done,” said Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland.

“Rep. Vindman misused campaign resources to help promote his brother’s book all the way to the New York Times bestseller list. The tens of thousands of campaign dollars spent to subsidize his brother’s spurious book should be immediately investigated by the FEC.”

FEC rules state that using campaign assets, such as donor lists, for book promotion or other monetary benefit is usually classified as “prohibited personal use.”

The Feb. 27 email blast by Eugene’s campaign bore the subject line “Alex’s New Book” and encouraged recipients to purchase a copy, saying that it “reveals profound truths.”

The March 7 email again promoted “The Folly of Realism” and urged recipients to “claim your copy,” according to the complaint.

“Vindman for Congress has significantly subsidized the marketing costs that should be borne by Alexander Vindman and his book’s commercial publisher,” APT’s filing stressed, citing FEC rules stipulating that campaign funds can’t be converted “by any person to personal use.”

The Post reached out to Eugene Vindman’s office for comment.

Ten days after the book’s Feb. 25 release date, Eugene’s campaign made a $7,809.55 payment to Books & Books in Coral Gables, Fla., followed by a second payment of $30,972.97 processed on March 20.

The Coral Gables store previously confirmed to The Post last month that Alexander Vindman held book signings at that location and noted that a member of one of Eugene Vindman’s team had asked her earlier in the day what she would do if a reporter came around asking questions.

Campaign payments to the store were listed as a “fundraising expense,” but the store worker wouldn’t specify whether Eugene’s team had actually held fundraising activity there.

Two days after the first payment, on March 9, Alexander Vindman posted on X about signing copies of his tome at Books & Books.

On March 21, a day after the second payment of $30,973, Eugene posted that he was participating in a chili cookoff in Caroline County, Va. on the day the check cleared.

Alexander Vindman’s book briefly made the New York Times “hardcover nonfiction” bestseller list during the week ending March 16.

Eugene Vindman won a close race to represent Virginia’s 7th District last November with a message centered on fighting against corruption, highlighting his efforts to assist his twin brother in testifying against Trump.

The Post previously reported that the now-congressman eschewed questions last year about whether his taxpayer-funded trips to Ukraine played a role in his business ventures of trying to sell weapons to Kyiv.

Eugene told the Prince William Times that as of late 2023, he had made 14 trips to the war-torn country, funded by the “Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group” State Department program.

But during that time, his company, Trident Support LLC, worked to sell the Ukrainian government a weapons system. That firm also used the same PO box as Vindman’s congressional campaign.

Vindman raked in $125,000 from Trident early last year despite reports that he did not earn a salary from the company, financial disclosures show.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

2025 Peace Talks: We are on the right track

2025-05-20

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] Putin and Trump's talks have ended.

Putin called the talks meaningful and useful. Putin thanked Trump for organizing the talks with Ukraine.

Russia is in favor of stopping the fighting, but it is necessary to develop the most effective paths forward.

Russia is ready to work on a memorandum with Ukraine, including a ceasefire.

Russia and Ukraine need to find compromises that would suit all parties.

We are on the right track (c) Putin

We will continue to negotiate.

Trump's version.

The conversation with Putin went very well.
Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin talks on ending the war (c) Trump

The full text of Trump's statement:

"My conversation with Putin has just ended. I believe it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin talks on a ceasefire and, more importantly, a complete end to the war. The terms will be agreed upon between the two sides - as they should be, because only they know the details of the negotiation process that are not available to anyone else. The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent. If it were not so, I would say so right now, and not later.Russia wants to do massive TRADE with the United States after this disastrous "bloodbath" is over, and I support that idea. Russia has tremendous opportunities to create jobs and build wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED. Ukraine can also be a major beneficiary of trade relations as it rebuilds its country.

Russia-Ukraine talks will begin immediately. I communicated this to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb in a phone call immediately after my conversation with President Putin.

The Vatican, according to the Pope, has expressed a strong interest in hosting these talks on its territory.

Let the process begin! (c) Trump

More from regnum.ru
Peskov said that a meeting between Putin and Trump is not currently being prepared

A meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is not currently being prepared. This was reported on May 19 by the official Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“No, it is not being prepared now,” Peskov said, answering a question from journalists.

Earlier on May 19, the Russian leader's press secretary noted: Putin and Trump will decide on a possible meeting and its timing themselves. At the same time, he emphasized that the negotiations between the leaders of Russia and the United States must be productive, and for this they must be well prepared.

Peskov also announced a telephone conversation between the Russian president and his American counterpart, which will take place on May 19 at 17:00 Moscow time. The US president had previously stated that the main topics of the conversation would be a ceasefire in Ukraine and trade issues.

Link

Africa Horn

Explosion in Somali capital kills 11 15 in army recruitment camp, Shaboob jacket wallah prevented from doing worse

2025-05-19

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] At least 11 people were killed in an explosion at a military recruitment center in Mogadishu, and several others were injured. This was reported on the social network X by the SMS Somali TV channel.

The incident took place at the Damaanyo military base during the recruitment process for the Somali National Army.

According to Dalsan radio, the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber who was among the young people wanting to enlist.

None of the groups operating in the country have yet claimed responsibility for the incident. Somali authorities have not commented on the incident. The area where the incident occurred has been cordoned off.

The number of casualties reported is significant and may rise.

Local news site Shabelle Media:

Somali Government Confirms Suicide Attack at Mogadishu Recruitment Camp
A jacket wallah targeted a military recruitment centre in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday, the government said, as unconfirmed reports indicated significant casualties among army hopefuls.

The blast occurred around 9:20 am outside the Damaanyo military camp, where large crowds of young men had gathered to enlist in the Somali National Army. The Ministry of Information confirmed the attack in an official statement.

Unverified reports suggest that more than 11 people may have been killed, with some sources placing the corpse count as high as 20. Dozens more were reportedly injured, though this could not be independently confirmed.

According to the government, the attacker was intercepted by security forces before reaching his intended target within the facility.

"The assailant failed to reach his objective of inflicting mass civilian casualties," the ministry said.

Local news site Garowe Online adds:

The al-Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the military recruitment base in Mogadishu, Sunday, in one of the deadliest attacks targeting hundreds of young men intending to join the armed forces in Somalia.

Struggling with an insufficient number of troops on the frontlines, the government of Somalia had started a recruitment process in Mogadishu, targeting young and energetic men, with the Somali National Army racing against time to assume security responsibilities.

According to reports, a suicide bomber detonated explosives, killing at least 15 people, with 20 more were critically injured. The injured people are receiving medical treatment in various hospitals within Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

The attack occurred as dozens of youths lined up voluntarily to join the army in the Damaanyo barracks, southwest of Mogadishu. Through one of the radio stations affiliated with its activities, the Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attack.

Previously, the militants have used similar tactics to paralyse national events, including an attack against the Turkish military training school in Somalia, where the elite Gorgor troops are prepared. The militants usually try to upset the recruitment policy of the SNA.

The government has deployed several soldiers in various frontlines to fight the militants, but the group has recently made inroads, including the seizure of the strategic Adan Yabaal town within the central regions. The group is also believed to have infiltrated the Somali National Army.

More from Garowe:

Authorities in Moqokori, led by the District Commissioner, have not ruled out the Al-Shabaab's involvement in the latest case, but preliminary indications suggest the soldier may have been under the influence of narcotics. He noted that drug use among government troops, even in combat zones, remains a huge setback.

Link

Home Front: Politix

California Coastal Commission is effectively seizing much of the land lost in the Pacific Palisades fire

2025-05-19

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

LAND GRAB: The California Coastal Commission is effectively seizing much of the land lost in the Pacific Palisades fire. Homeowners in Malibu will be required to spend up to $5 million on ground upgrades per home before they’re even allowed to rebuild. pic.twitter.com/P1xA1gB5Lr
— @amuse (@amuse) May 18, 2025

Oh, wotta surprise!

Link

India-Pakistan

At least four killed in explosion near FC fort in Qila Abdullah

2025-05-19

[GEO.TV] At least four people were killed and several others injured in a kaboom near FC fort in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
's Qila Abdullah.

The explosion occurred near Jabbar Market, adjacent to the back wall of the FC fort, in the Balochistan's district.

Deputy Commissioner Riaz Khan said that at least 20 persons were maimed in the earth-shattering kaboom and shifted to different hospitals.

Detailing the incident, Khan said that several vehicles and shops were destroyed in the powerful blast as Death Eaters apparently wanted to target the wall of FC fort.

Armed men and FC soldiers also exchanged fire following the kaboom.

According to the government official, some maimed persons were being shifted to Quetta due to lack of health facilities in the area.

At the time of the earth-shattering kaboom, tribal leader Haji Faizullah Khan Ghabizai was also present at his office. The tribal leader, his security guard and a passerby were also among maimed persons.

Heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies cordoned off the whole area and commenced a search and clearance operation.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IDF launches sweeping new Gaza offensive; Palestinians say dozens killed in strikes; Md Sinwar’s body found in Kahn Younis tunnel w/10 dead aides last week

2025-05-18

[IsraelTimes] Gideon’s Chariots offensive involves seizing control of ‘strategic areas,’ officials say; troops said advancing on Deir al-Balah, where ground forces have not operated since Oct. 7

The Israel Defense Forces announced late Friday that it has launched the first stages of a major offensive in 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...
Strip, dubbed "Gideon’s Chariots," that will seek to "seize strategic areas" of the Hamas
Hamas

..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
-run Strip, where authorities reported dozens killed in heavy Israeli ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s overnight and on Saturday morning.

In a statement, the military said it had "launched extensive attacks and mobilized forces" over the past days, "to achieve all the goals of the war in Gaza, including the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas."

"IDF troops in the Southern Command will continue to operate to protect Israeli citizens and realize the goals of the war," the military added.

Paleostinian media reported on Saturday that IDF ground troops had advanced overnight toward central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. According to the reports, heavy artillery fire and airstrikes were carried out in the eastern Deir al-Balah area as the forces advanced.

Deir al-Balah is one of the few areas of the Strip where Israel has not sent ground troops since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. Ground forces have previously operated on the outskirts of the town, but not deep inside it.

Social media users posted pictures of what they said were leaflets the IDF had scattered in the area of the town, instructing residents to flee. It was not immediately clear if the leaflets were genuine.

The reported leaflet featured the IDF logo on one corner and a Star of David captioned "righteous conquest," in Arabic, on the other corner. Over a background that showed a sea parted over destroyed buildings, the leaflet quoted a Koranic verse about the "Parting of the Sea," and below it a message: "Residents of Gaza, the Israeli army approaches."

According to Israeli officials, the operation would see the IDF "conquer" Gaza and retain the territory, attack Hamas, prevent the terror group from taking control of humanitarian aid

supplies, and move Paleostinians from Gaza’s north to its south.

An Israeli defense official said earlier this month that the operation would not be launched before the end of Friday of US President Donald Trump
...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets...
’s four-day Middle East tour.

The tour coincided with the resumption of Gaza truce-hostage talks in 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...
following the US-brokered release of Israeli-American captive soldier Edan Alexander. The talks have made little progress amid Israel’s refusal to end the war until Hamas is defeated.

HAMAS AUTHORITIES SAY DOZENS KILLED IN AIRSTRIKES
Airstrikes were reported Saturday in the areas of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, and Jabalia, in the Strip’s north. Marwan Al-Sultan, director of northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, said Saturday morning that the medical center had since midnight received “58 martyrs, while a large number of victims remain under the rubble.”

Sultan said the situation at the hospital was “tragic and catastrophic after its surroundings were targeted again this morning, causing the collapse of ceilings and cracks in the walls.”

“The operating rooms and intensive care units are completely full, and we are unable to receive any more critical cases,” he said.

He added there was “a severe shortage of blood units, medicines, medical and therapeutic supplies, and surgical procedures.”

Doctors had been forced to source blood for transfusions from other patients and even from themselves “due to the impossibility of donations from citizens due to malnutrition,” said Sultan.

Meanwhile, Hamas’s civil defense agency said 10 bodies had been brought to Gaza hospitals following strikes Saturday morning.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that three people were killed and four wounded in drone strikes east of Khan Younis, while three others were killed and several wounded in the bombing of a house in Jabalia.

An attack on an apartment northwest of Khan Younis killed three people, while one person was killed and five wounded, “including a girl, a young woman and a pregnant woman,” in a strike on a tent west of the city, he added.

More than 300 Gazans have been killed in Israeli strikes since Thursday, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which says more than 53,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the war so far.

The tolls cannot be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.

Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January, and another 1,600 terrorists inside the country during the October 7 onslaught, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

UN CHIEF ‘ALARMED’ BY EXPANDED GAZA OFFENSIVE
Speaking at an Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
summit in Baghdad on Saturday, United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
chief António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
expressed astonishment at Israel’s expanded operation in the besieged Strip.

"We need a permanent ceasefire, now," said Guterres. "I am alarmed by reported plans by Israel to expand ground operations and more."

His comment followed a statement by UN aid chief Tom Fletcher rejecting a US-backed proposal to deliver aid to Gaza without it going to Hamas.

“To those proposing an alternative modality for aid distribution, let’s not waste time. We already have a plan,” he said, adding that the UN has a proven plan and 160,000 pallets of relief ready to enter the Palestinian enclave now.

Fletcher enraged Israel’s mission to the UN this week after he told the body’s security council to act “to prevent a genocide” in Gaza. Israel has angrily rejected the accusation that it is perpetrating a genocide.

Israel halted the flow of aid to Gaza on March 2, hours after the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal’s first phase expired amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to negotiate the second phase, which would have required an end to the war. On March 18, Israel resumed hostilities in Gaza with a surprise series of deadly airstrikes.

Following the 42-day first phase and the release of Edan Alexander on Monday, terror groups in Gaza still hold 58 hostages, at least 35 of whom have been confirmed dead, including a soldier killed fighting in the 2014 Gaza war.

IDF says it demolished 2 km ‘strategic’ Hamas tunnel in Gaza
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it demolished a 2-kilometer-long Hamas tunnel during recent operations in the northern Gaza Strip.

The military describes the tunnel as “strategic.” It was located and destroyed by troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade and Yahalom combat engineering unit.

Report: Body of Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar found in Gaza tunnel struck by IDF
[IsraelTimes] The Saudi channel Al-Hadath reports that the body of Muhammad Sinwar, the de facto commander of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, was found in a tunnel in Khan Younis where the terror leader was targeted by the Israel Defense Forces last week.

According to the report, the bodies of 10 of Sinwar’s aides were found with him.

It is also reported that there is evidence that the commander of the Rafah Brigade in Hamas’s military wing, Mohammad Shabana, was also killed in the strike.

Israel has not confirmed the deaths of either Sinwar or Shabana.

The strikes on Tuesday targeted an underground command compound below the European Hospital where Sinwar was believed to be sheltering. The IDF later bombed the area several more times, in an apparent attempt to prevent anyone from approaching the tunnel.

Sinwar, a senior Hamas military commander, is the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the IDF in southern Gaza last October.

Following the killing of Hamas’s top military commander, Muhammad Deif, last July, Muhammad Sinwar took charge of the terror group’s military wing. Later, after Sinwar’s older brother was killed by IDF troops, he became the de facto leader of the terror group in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials have described Muhammad Sinwar as obstinate with regard to negotiations with Hamas for the release of hostages, and an obstacle to reaching a ceasefire deal.

The younger Sinwar is also wanted for terrorist actions against Israel and has been active in Hamas for decades.

He was jailed by Israel in the 1990s for nine months and spent an additional three years in a Palestinian Authority prison in Ramallah, from which he escaped in 2000. In 2006, Sinwar was part of a Hamas cell that abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. He also previously commanded Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade.

Most of Hamas’s leadership has been eliminated by Israel during the ongoing war.

Link

India-Pakistan

Who Is Jyoti Malhotra, YouTuber Arrested For Spying For Pakistan?

2025-05-18

[OneIndia] Popular YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, along with five others, has been arrested on charges of spying for Pakistain.

For passing on sensitive Indian information to Pak intelligence operatives, a case has been lodged against her under Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Hindustan Times reported.

WHO IS JYOTI MALHOTRA?
Jyoti Malhotra owns a YouTube channel 'Travel with Jo' which has 377,000 subscribers. She got in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistain High Commission (PHC) in New Delhi in 2023. She has been her handler who introduced her to Pak Intelligence Operatives (PIOs).

In 2023, she went to Pakistain twice where she met Ali Ehwan, Shakir, and Rana Shahbaz. She saved their names using fake names like Jatt Randhawa for Rana Shahbaz so that nobody would get suspicious. She has been in touch with these people through encrypted platforms.

While portraying herself as a travel enthusiast, authorities allege she was part of a covert influence campaign promoting a favourable image of Pakistain on social media. Her substantial online following, Sherlocks say, provided her handlers in Pakistain with a platform to shape narratives.

Another key accused, Guzala, a 32-year-old widow from Punjab
...1. Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2. A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3. A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots
....
's Malerkotla, was allegedly lured into the spy ring after visiting the Pakistain High Commission in Delhi in February 2025. There, she met Danish, who cultivated a romantic relationship with her, shifting their conversations to Telegram for "security." Over weeks, Danish sent her payments-totaling ₹30,000 via PhonePe and Google Pay-before directing her to funnel portions to suspicious accounts, according to a report in India Today.

Guzala later returned to the High Commission with a friend, Banu Nasreena, also a widow, and secured visas with Danish's help-a detail that has raised concerns about exploitation of vulnerable individuals.

THE WIDER NETWORK
Among others arrested:

Yameen Mohd (Malerkotla): Allegedly handled financial transactions and visa logistics for operatives.

Devinder Singh Dhillon (Kaithal): A Sikh student recruited during a Pakistain pilgrimage; accused of filming Patiala's military cantonment.

Arman (Nuh): Supplied Indian SIMs, transferred funds, and attended Defence Expo 2025 on Pak handlers' orders.

The arrests come amid heightened India-Pakistain tensions following the April terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir
Kashmir

...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
, where 26 people-primarily Hindu men-were executed at close range by Death Eaters. India blames Pakistain-backed groups, including the Kashmir Resistance (a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...>
), for the attack. In retaliation, India launched 'Operation Sindoor', targeting terrorist hubs across the border.

Link

Africa Horn

China Wins Lion's Share of Nearly $2 Billion Ethiopia Mineral Deal Package

2025-05-16

[Breitbart] The Ethiopian Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday that a two-day investment conference in Addis Ababa produced $1.7 billion dollars in investment deals, most of them from Chinese companies.

Reuters summarized the most prominent announcements from the Invest In Ethiopia 2025 conference:

The deals signed include a planned $500 million investment by Hua Ye Mining Processing Company in minerals exploration and processing, and the development of a special economic zone focused on minerals, the ministry said.

Another $600 million will come from Sequoia Mining & Processing Plc to develop coal mining projects, while another $360 million will come from Hainan Drinda New Energy Technology to build a solar cell manufacturing plant.

Another $250 million will come from CSI Solar, also for solar energy development, the ministry said.

The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), the government agency which organized the forum, did not provide a timetable for when these projects would begin.

The Finance Ministry celebrated the Invest In Ethiopia 2025 conference as a “significant step in the country’s drive to attract foreign investment and foster private sector growth.”

Ethiopia is often seen as synonymous with poverty and starvation, but as the EIC eagerly points out, it actually holds enormous mineral wealth. Everything from gold and gems, to coal, iron, nickel, and phosphates can be mined from Ethiopian soil. Ethiopia boasts one of the oldest and most detailed geological survey operations in Africa.

One of Ethiopia’s challenges is that none of its riches were extensively mined until recently, except for gold, which became such a dominant product that it distorted the entire mining industry. Gold mining absorbed most of the country’s skilled workforce and most of its foreign investment. When the gold mines were booming, the industry had a habit of growing careless with its money. When the value of gold dropped, the entire Ethiopian economy sank with it.

Then there was the painful problem of political instability and tribal violence, which has kicked the legs out from beneath Ethiopian industry every time it tried to stand tall. Decades of unrest began when the government began shifting from an agrarian economy to industrialization and big cities in the early 1990s.

Ethiopia’s brutal Tigray War, from 2020 to 2022, drew in many ethnic groups, as well as neighboring Eritrea. Credible allegations of atrocities were leveled against all parties to the conflict.

The Tigray War was only the latest of Ethiopia’s devastating conflicts, and it is not entirely over. Ethiopia’s desperate central government recruited numerous tribal militias to help it battle the Tigray insurgents. When the Tigray conflict ended, the government told its allies to disarm, but they refused — and now thousands of people are once again being displaced by a violent insurgency.

Such unstable environments do not easily attract foreign investors, even when the ground is full of buried treasure. One of the major goals of this week’s investment forum was to convince outside companies their mines and energy projects would be safe.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched an ambitious post-civil war reform program last year, including extensive privatization of stagnant state industries, stabilization of Ethiopia’s wildly inflated currency, and more capital made available to foreign buyers.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was sufficiently impressed with Abiy’s reforms to extend $3.4 billion in credit last year. In April, Ethiopia succeeded in restructuring $8.4 billion of its debt, securing more time to make payments. The government hopes massive foreign investment to develop Ethiopia’s mineral resources will provide the income it needs to manage its older debts and satisfy the IMF.

Chinese companies accounted for about $1.1 billion of the $1.7 billion in deals flowing from the recent investment forum. China now makes about half of the foreign direct investments in Ethiopia.

This is not necessarily good news for the Ethiopians, as China’s ventures have been criticized for exploiting the local workforce, and a government hungry for big foreign money is not the most receptive audience for complaints from its abused citizens. On the other hand, some Ethiopians are outspokenly grateful for China’s investments, and they appreciate Beijing’s reluctance to criticize their government for using whatever force is necessary to suppress insurrections.

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