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Home Front: Politix

Newly Released Biden-Hur Audio Captures President''s Stumbles, Mishaps from Special Counsel Interview

2025-05-18

[NATIONALREVIEW] Newly released audio from then-President Joe The Big Guy Biden
Joe <q>The Big Guy</q> Biden

...46th president of the U.S. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass....
's lengthy interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur captures Biden's diminished mental acuity in his failure to recall the year his son Beau passed away, the year his vice presidency ended, the year President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
was first elected, and why he possessed certain classified documents.

Biden's long pauses and incoherent ramblings in response to light questioning from Hur are apparent in over four minutes of audio first reported by Axios on Friday night. The partial release fulfills expectations that the Trump administration would finally disclose the long-anticipated interview tape after Biden's administration obstructed its disclosure at every turn.

Mistakenly, Biden said in the interview that his son Beau died in 2017 and had to be reminded that he passed away in 2015. Biden also said Trump was first elected in 2017 and had to be corrected that Trump won the presidency in 2016.

''OK, yeah. In 2017, Beau had passed and — this is personal — the genesis of the book and the title Promise Me, Dad, was a — I know you're all close with your sons and daughters, but Beau was like my right arm and Hunt was my left,'' Biden said at one point in the interview audio, with lengthy pauses peppered throughout.

Biden also can be heard stumbling over his words and whispering throughout the audio, two aspects of the interview the transcripts fail to fully capture. Biden struggled to explain why he possessed classified documents, and he veered into rambling, storytelling territory about his decision not to run for president in 2016. Hur interviewed Biden over the course of two three-hour-long sessions on October 8 and 9, 2023.

Courtesy of NoMoreBS:

[X]

Biden’s mental capacity was severely compromised. It is obvious everyone around him knew the problem. We all saw it even before he took office and the answer to the question is the same today as we discussed in 2020, 2021 and beyond. These tapes only confirm what we already… https://t.co/qSKhMfUPYK
— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) May 17, 2025

… confirm what we already knew.

The State Dept was being run by Tony Blinken, Victoria Nuland and Samantha Power. The Clinton and Obama networks, along with their allies in congress and in various political organizations, were being paid and financed through various NGOs and stood up non-profits organized by the beneficiaries of the funding. All of those connections were revealed by the DOGE audits of USAID and other agencies.

Keep in mind that Susan Rice was part of the White House network up to the day Biden announced his intent to run again in 2024; so, she obviously knew his mental state. Others in the White House, again part of the Obama and Clinton networks were running the day-to-day operations. Biden was a figurehead, an avatar for the handlers operating in the background.

The DOJ, Main Justice and the FBI were being run by Lisa Monaco, again an Obama operative. The job at Main Justice was to use their Lawfare strategy to protect the fake and corrupt administration, keep everyone in line and attack all of their political opposition.

Obviously, Jill Biden was/is a power-hungry enabler for the entire dynamic. Sick and twisted people operate like this. Think of all the COVID-19 nonsense this crew carried out in 2021 and 2022, including the vaccine mandate and all of the authoritarian rules that came with the “Biden” COVID response stuff. These are sick people.

Congress, both parties, knew all of this. In fact, the entire Washington DC system was well aware of the cognitive state of mind behind the false presidency.

Biden wasn’t in control of anything – that’s transparently obvious when you listen to the tapes.

The media covered for all of it. They all knew, yet they attacked anyone who dare question the obvious. There is no one associated with the preceding four or five years around the 2020 campaign and administration that followed who did not know of the mental issues. Additionally, they all knew who was running things and they lied to the American people because these are power-hungry psychopaths.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

The Gaza Famine Myth

2025-05-11

[TheFP] How lazy journalism, bad data, and skewed statistics fueled accusations of war crimes against Israel.

"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...
Is Starving," a headline in The New Yorker declared in early January 2024, pushing a harrowing narrative that took hold during the first six months of the war. In March, The Washington Post asked: "Is Gaza Heading Into Famine?" A headline in the Post the next day answered: "Israel’s War on Hamas
Hamas

..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
Brings Famine to Gaza."

In April 2024, Samantha Power, director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the Biden administration, became the first senior U.S. official to declare that famine in Gaza had begun. She cited a report published by an independent, United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
—affiliated monitoring system, called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Global Initiative (IPC).

First developed in 2004 with backing from the UN, the IPC has become the global gold standard for food security analysis. Using a data-driven, evidence-based, five-phase scale that ticks up as food supplies run low, the IPC is designed to shield the humanitarian goal of having enough to eat from the political pressures of war. Today, a famine is declared only when the IPC’s data about a region shows that at least 20 percent of households have run out of food, at least 30 percent of children are acutely malnourished, and two people out of every 10,000 are dying each day from starvation.

In 20 years, just four famines have been confirmed by the IPC: Somalia in 2011, South Sudan
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
in 2017 and 2020, and Sudan in 2024. A confirmed famine in Gaza, as Power told Congress was happening, would have been a historic catastrophe and the first to occur outside continental Africa. Power’s statement bolstered claims that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war, and that the U.S. government was therefore complicit in an alleged war crime.

But there were serious problems with Power’s sensational testimony. Foremost among them: The IPC never declared a famine in Gaza. The report she cited was a projection of possible outcomes, not a conclusive finding. The next month, USAID issued its own analysis alleging that famine was underway, an indictment so serious that it required confirmation from an independent board of global experts known as the Famine Review Committee (FRC).

The FRC, which functions as the IPC’s final authority and quality control check, rebuked the USAID analysis, calling its conclusions insupportable. The failures were stunning.

Private sector food deliveries, such as trucks contracted to commercial warehouses, were left out of the agency’s estimates of the total food supply in north Gaza. As a result, as much as 82 percent of the "daily kilocalorie requirement" in northern Gaza last April wasn’t counted. In the same month, USAID’s famine monitor also left out 940 metric tons (2 million pounds) of flour, sugar, salt, and yeast donated by the UN to bakeries in north Gaza, enough to make about 1,400 metric tons (3 million pounds) of bread.

When asked about erasing the bakery donations, USAID’s internal famine-monitoring network justified the decision on the grounds that bread from those bakeries had been sold rather than given away for free.

It was never in doubt that the Israel-Hamas war brought immense human suffering to Gaza, including from food shortages. But USAID depicted a world that had little in common with reality.

North Gaza actually had 10 times more food last April than USAID had claimed. These findings should have been big news. As aid shipments increased, a famine had been averted.

Link

Government Corruption

Fact-checking Elon Musk's claims in the Oval Office

2025-02-13

BLUF: The BBC reporters are indignant that Elon Musk and President Trump are making a fuss about things the BBC would rather remained unmentioned. They present a series of fact checks which are notable for the fact that the BBC has actually not seen the records Mr. Musk references, and so cannot judge their validity. Key bite from the article:

[BBC] Elon Musk has made a number of exaggerated or unevidenced claims during an Oval Office event alongside President Donald Trump.

The billionaire, who was making his first major media appearance since beginning his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), said his team was seeking to improve transparency in government.

But he provided no evidence when making sweeping statements about corruption in government agencies and also defended false allegations he had spread about US funds being used to send condoms to Gaza.

BBC Verify has examined these claims made by Musk.

SENDING CONDOMS TO GAZA?
Musk was challenged by a reporter about a recent White House claim, which he has repeated, that it had stopped $50m (£40.2m) worth of condoms being sent to the Gaza Strip.

The reporter asked whether the condoms were actually due to be sent to Gaza Province in Mozambique.

Musk appeared to concede that could be the case, and responded: "I'm not sure we should be sending $50m dollars on condoms anywhere… if it went to Mozambique instead of Gaza, I'm like, OK that's not as bad, but still you know why are we doing that?"

Several posts on X have highlighted a US commitment to fund an HIV-prevention programme in Gaza, Mozambique.

US government records show that an American-funded scheme for Gaza, Mozambique was awarded $83.5m for "prevention, care, support and treatment interventions within HIV and TB facilities and communities" for a programme running until September 2026.

BBC Verify contacted the aid agency that granted the funding - the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) - who told us that no money has been used to procure condoms.

The US State Department told us two $50m donations due to be sent to the Gaza Strip via the International Medical Corps had been stopped, which it claimed included contraceptives such as condoms.

But responding to the claims, the charity said it wasn't aware of any future US funding for condoms or any other contraceptives for Gaza.

They also said none of the funds they'd received from the US government since October 2023 had been used to procure or distribute condoms within the Gaza Strip.

The US has, in the past, provided contraceptives to countries around the world as part of family planning programmes.

In 2023 fiscal year (1 October - 30 September) $60.8m was sent abroad for contraceptives - with about $7m of that for condoms - according to a USAID report. None of this was listed for Gaza in the Middle East. $5.4m of contraceptives were listed for Mozambique, but none of this was for condoms.

These contraceptive programmes existed under Trump's previous administration as well. During the 2019 fiscal year, for example, about $40m was spent sending contraceptives abroad, according to another USAID report.

'THE WOMAN THAT WALKED AWAY WITH $30M'?
Although he did not mention her by name, Elon Musk appeared to reference former USAID administrator Samantha Power's alleged net worth.

President Trump asked Musk to "mention some of the things that your team has found some of the crazy numbers, including the woman that walked away with about 30 million."

There have been claims on social media about Power's net worth increasing to this amount during her time at USAID.

One post claims: "Ex-USAID chief Samantha Power's net worth skyrockets - from $6.7m to $30m on a $180k salary… Where did the extra $23.3m come from? And all of this in just 3 years!"

Musk responded to another post on X about Power's work at USAID, asking "how did she accumulate wealth that is 100 times her after tax salary?"

Lots of details at the link, at the end of which the BBC team concludes Ms Powers was rich before and she is rich now, so why are people fussing? Other points of contention:

SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS FOR 150-YEAR-OLDS?
Social security provides a base income for people in the US who are either retired or can't work because of a disability. It covers about 67 million Americans.

Regarding the programme, Musk said: "There's crazy things… cross re-examination of Social Security, and we've got people in there that are 150 years old." He did not provide evidence of this.

BBC Verify has been unable to find specific evidence for the claim - although we don't have access to all the US social security data that Musk has been granted.

"I think they're probably dead… and then there's a whole bunch of social security payments where there's no identifying information," Musk added. …

PAPERWORK STORED DOWN AN OLD MINE SHAFT?
Speaking about government inefficiencies Musk claimed only 10,000 federal employees could retire per month because the paperwork is written down manually and kept in a mine.

He said: "The limiting factor is the speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move determines how many people can retire from the federal government, and the elevator breaks down sometimes, and then nobody can retire."

That same day, Musk's department posted about the mine on X.

"Federal employee retirements are processed using paper, by hand, in an old limestone mine in Pennsylvania. 700+ mine workers operate 230 feet underground to process ~10,000 applications per month, which are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. The retirement process takes multiple months."

Musk is referring to Iron Mountain, a high security storage facility in Pennsylvania which holds government documents in a former limestone mine.

A 2014 article by The Washington Post reported that the retirement paperwork at the facility was processed "entirely by hand, and almost entirely on paper".

Courtesy of NoMoreBS:

[X]

NEW: Elon Musk says the maximum amount of people who can retire from the federal government in a month is 10,000 because the paperwork is done manually at an old limestone mine in Pennsylvania.

The mine in question is Iron Mountain.

"The speed at which the mine shaft elevator… pic.twitter.com/rgjDqoPbL4
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 11, 2025

… the mine shaft elevator can move determines how many people can retire from the federal government."

Iron Mountain is a 330,000-square-foot data center more than 200 feet deep. It uses a 35-acre underground reservoir to create a geothermal cooling system.

A report from 2021 reveals how the government tried (and failed) to digitize the process for decades. $106 million later, and failing to do so, the government decided to keep the old process.

"$106 million later, the OPM facility resumed functioning with the processes established back in 1977," STWserve dot com reported.

Link

Government Corruption

DOGE Investigating Feds Whose Net Worths Have Exploded After Samantha Power Bombshell

2025-02-12

[ZERO] The announcement - which came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to work with DOGE, follows a bombshell report that Samantha Power, former head of USAID, saw her net worth explode to $30 million despite an annual salary under $250,000.

We don't know why. Where did it come from? I think the reality is that they're getting wealthy at the taxpayer expense," Musk said on Tuesday.

Power, a former ambassador to the United Nations under President Obama, and was sworn in as head of USAID in May of 2021, reported a net worth between $6.7 million-$16.5 million in January of 2021 on a disclosure form. Her net worth is now estimated as high as $30 million, according to the website Biden's Basement.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Report: How USAID funded Palestinian Arab terrorism

2025-02-11

[IsraelNationalNews] The US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has of late been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, has for years funneled money to terrorist entities in the Palestinian-controlled territories, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Monday, citing several former and current US officials who have worked with the agency.

According to the report, the officials fought with the agency over funding for groups that worked to undermine Israel or maintained ties to terror organizations and the organization would work to conceal how taxpayer funds were spent.

The report mentions how in November 2022, USAID granted $100,000 to an organization led by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror group. Just six days before Hamas's Oct. 7 assault on Israel, USAID gave $900,000 "to a terror charity in Gaza involved with the son of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh."

The report also notes that the Biden-era administrator of the agency, Samantha Power, actively fought pro-Israel policymaking at the State Department and that USAID staffers even recently urged the Biden administration to halt military funding for Israel.

One State Department official told the Free Beacon: "They weren't even in line with some of the Biden administration's policies. It's more than just problematic grants to anti-Israel organizations. It's also their role in the internal approval processes and statements within the administration. There's an entire bureaucratic process they're a part of. They carry out their obstructionist ideology on that front as well."

US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) confirmed the report, in which he was also quoted, writing on X: "The full story of USAID funding Hamas is vast, and much of it was done in secret. Before and after October 7, USAID flowed uncountable hundreds of millions of dollars toward Hamas which enabled it to launch the attack and keep battling Israel afterward.

The Senator continued: "They lied about the nature of that aid in public databases, refused to disclose what groups were getting the money, and gave tens of millions in American cash to be distributed without American supervision.

"They internally admitted the aid would benefit Hamas, and even exempted themselves from anti-terrorism laws, but in public issued denials."

Cruz added: "For all four years of the Biden administration, I prevented them from confirming a Middle East administrator because they wouldn’t acknowledge what they were doing because continuing their secret pro-Hamas programs was more important to them."

Link

Good Morning

2025-02-07

USAID Staff Slashed to 294 Amid Abolishment
Talks - including Samantha Power fired

Friday 02/07/2025

Lebanese clans kill and capture HTS members as Lebanese homes blown up in Syria

joan_blondell_1514

Fifth Column Border Chief Homan Says Raid on Tren de Aragua Gang Was Leaked		-Obits- US military surveillance flight crashes in Philippines, killing 4
International-UN-NGOs US President Trump to impose sanctions on International Criminal Court		India-Pakistan Pakistan Army soldier martyred, 12 terrorists killed in North Waziristan IBO
Israel-Palestine-Jordan Hamas ridicules Trump's Gaza plan as showcasing deep ignorance		Arabia Saudi Arabia suddenly mobilises more mercenary forces in Mahrah

Federal Judge rails against Trump and
blocks birthright executive order for second time

Link

Government Corruption

USAID Staff Slashed to 294 Amid Abolishment Talks - including Samantha Power fired

2025-02-07

[X]

BREAKING: Secretary of State Marco Rubio just deemed that only 294 USAID staffers are necessary out of 14,000.

The entire agency will be imminently reduced from 14,000 to 294 employees.

This has to be the biggest mass firing yet. pic.twitter.com/5Hf8op7VPb
— George (@BehizyTweets) February 6, 2025

The U.S. government is executing a substantial reduction of USAID's workforce, from approximately 14,000 to just 294 staff members, as confirmed by various news sources. This decision has coincided with legislative moves to potentially dissolve the agency entirely, as Rep. Greg Steube introduced a bill to abolish USAID and redirect its functions to the U.S. Department of State. Additionally, the pause in USAID funding has impacted the BBC's international charity arm, BBC Media Action, which expressed concerns over its operational capabilities due to an 8% funding cut.

USAID’s Samantha Power has been FIRED.

She claims, “People that work for USAID wanted to make the World a better place…”

President Trump calls USAID a Criminal Enterprise. pic.twitter.com/z5Urj4jig9
— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) February 6, 2025

Senator Eric Schmitt breaks down some of the insane spending:

- $45 million for DEI scholarships in Burma
- $3 million for girls centered climate action in Brazil
- $125 million to racialize public health
- $280,000 for diverse birdwatchers
- $1.5 million for DEI in Serbia
-… pic.twitter.com/PB0TZ1Ncq8
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 6, 2025

- $70,000 for DEI musical in Ireland
- $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam
- $47,000 for trans opera in Colombia
- $32,000 trans comic book in Peru
- $2 million for sex changes in Guatemala
- $6 million for tourism in Egypt

Courtesy of NoMoreBS: CTH: Samantha Power and USAID defense on Colbert-note the Hungary inference

Courtesy of badanov:

USAID was funding over 6,200 journalists across 707 media outlets and 279 "media" NGOs, including nine out of ten media outlets in Ukraine.https://t.co/tLUoBT2GfN https://t.co/Siq2RJOXQf pic.twitter.com/LyaUFuq3He
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 6, 2025

Says Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
That's all you need to know about "free and independent journalism in Ukraine."

In fact, almost any Ukrainian "journalist" is a character receiving a salary from the US through a shell from USAID and in fact are budget employees.

American budget employees who depend on money coming/going to USAID from the American budget through the State Department.

Courtesy of 3dc:

A X feed worth following on USAID being worse than the CIA
This noticed by a decades-ago mod but still observing. Follow the tweet poster and read the comments on "X"

USAID is not a front for the CIA.

It's worse than that.

USAID became its own unaccountable covert operations agency.

USAID ran covert ops without a presidential finding as required by law.
— J Michael Waller (@JMichaelWaller) February 4, 2025

USAID and Politico spent $100 Million trying to kill PIZZA!
[TWITCHY]

Link

Home Front: Politix

Karoline Leavitt just wrapped up her White House press conference with another shocking list of absurdities USAID has been funding

2025-02-06

[X]

Karoline Leavitt just wrapped up her White House press conference with another shocking list of absurdities USAID has been funding:

- $2 million for sex changes in Guatemala
- $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt
- $20 million on a new Sesame Street show in Iraq
- $4.5 million to… pic.twitter.com/PrVpfrlTsX
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 5, 2025

It’s absolutely shameful the way they have spent the taxpayer dollars #helevier #zelena https://t.co/J1n78WFBEI
— The Heart Speaks (@SGabardi1111) February 5, 2025

$43 million on a gas station in Afghanistan that had no customers, $1.5 million to promote LGBT Jamaicans, $4 million for trans Serbians, $5.5 million for gay rights in Uganda, $17 million for Vietnam “inclusion,” $25 million to promote “green transportation” in Georgia, $1… pic.twitter.com/eu3LEoFvvg
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) February 6, 2025

…in Georgia, $1 million for Arab and Jewish photographers, $8 million to teach Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid “binary-gendered language,” and $122 million ended up in the hands of terrorists. That’s where the USAID has been spending YOUR money. Democrats have been sending your tax dollars to all kinds of crazy places, like George Soros’ prosecutor fund and even worse… the media.
@politico
received $26 million dollars over the last four years from the federal government. The White House says it’s all getting DOGED.

Probably not Zionist Jewish photographers…

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE): "USAID saves lives, makes peace, protects our planet, stabilizes our world"

"If DOGE wins... if Elon Musk wins... the cartels will win. Terrorists will win. Russia will win. China will win." pic.twitter.com/6qAuWmjk8C
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) February 5, 2025

Cory Booker is having an absolute meltdown because we don't want American tax dollars to be wasted on bizarre projects in foreign countries.pic.twitter.com/fWFREttcEh
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 5, 2025

Courtesy of Skidmark:

Who is Samantha Power? Meet the Biden-era USAID leader facing backlash amid Musk's DOGE crackdown

Courtesy of Besoeker:

USAID Panic Mode: Bill Gates Goes On MSM, Bashes Musk's DOGE, Fear-Mongers About Next Pandemic
[ZERO] Globalist billionaire Bill Gates made the rounds on far-left corporate media outlets on Tuesday morning, criticizing Elon Musk's DOGE to fold USAID into the State Department—a move that would place Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the agency's Acting Administrator. Gates has panicked, and making the rounds on MSM shows just that because he knows that USAID's funding days for his nonprofit empire might be numbered, as Rubio will apply maximum oversight into grant distributions.

Gates appeared on NBC's Today Show, telling the host that Musk "doesn't appreciate the phenomenal work at USAID." He continued, "It's not partisan work."

However, according to a DailyWire report, 97% of the political contributions from USAID workers went to the Democratic Party. That's a good one, Bill.

Tides Foundation is the Soros 'charity' that funded much of the Antifa BLM protests in 2020. (Besides many other crappy things.)

USAID was one of Tides' primary funders.https://t.co/5HDsIqk66O
— John Ringo SF Author (@Jringo1508) February 6, 2025

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: October 2, 2024

2024-10-03

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 20:23 Zelensky reported that he heard a report from the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Oleg Ivashchenko: "Key things - both regarding the strengthening of the Service and our work on extremely sensitive information that our Ukrainian intelligence officers receive."

19:16 The death toll from the Russian attack on Lviv on September 4 has risen to eight - Lviv Polytechnic teacher Bohdan Kril has died in hospital, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported.

18:58 Russians shelled the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region throughout the day, two people were wounded, reported the head of the OVA, Serhiy Lysak.

18:33 Croatian President Zoran Milanovic has not allowed his army to take part in the NATO mission to support Ukraine, his office said. According to Milanovic, "despite the huge military aid that Ukraine receives, there is no end in sight to the war, but there is a threat that the war is spreading beyond Ukraine."

17:27 The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is allocating $825 million to support Ukraine's energy system this winter, twice as much as last year, the agency's administrator, Samantha Power, said during a visit to Kiev. She also announced the launch of a five-year rehabilitation program for Ukrainians, Rehab for You, for which the agency has allocated $13 million. In addition, USAID will provide $237 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

16:19 In occupied Berdyansk, the car of traitor judge Vitaliy Lomeiko was blown up, he died, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense reported. Lomeiko is a judge of the Chernigov District Court of the Zaporizhia Region, who remained in Berdyansk after the occupation, violated his oath in the conditions of war and consciously and voluntarily went to cooperate with the Russians.

15:14 There are not yet enough volunteers among Ukrainians abroad to form the Ukrainian Legion, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said: "We have prepared for this. We are not responsible for recruitment. However, the number of people who were supposed to volunteer from the Ukrainian side is too small. These declarations were very high at the beginning - that even one brigade could be formed, that is, several thousand people. However, this did not happen."

15:06 Vitaly Sarantsev, spokesman for the Kharkov operational-tactical group, denied information about the use of the OGAB-9000 aerial bomb by Russian troops in Volchansk: "The use of this munition requires an appropriate carrier, which could theoretically be, for example, a Tu-160 strategic bomber. However, no movement was recorded. A munition of less weight and power was used, the explosion of which was used by propagandists to create a spectacular image."

14:38 The Washington Post writes that Russian troops in the Donetsk region in August and September seized Ukrainian territory at a rate not seen since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. According to the newspaper, during this period, the Russian Armed Forces increased the occupied territory across Ukraine by 511 square kilometers, about 431 of which were declared along the front between Bakhmut and Ugledar.

The publication attributes such rates to the fact that the Russian Armed Forces "have the numbers to continue the pressure, and Western aid does not compensate for the equipment deficit." Thus, in the Ugledar area, the ratio of artillery salvos sometimes reaches 10:1 in favor of the Russian Federation. WP also notes that Pokrovsk is a key road and rail junction, and the destruction of railways and bridges means that it is effectively lost.

13:58 EU ambassadors have agreed on a new sanctions regime targeting Russian hybrid threats, RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak reported. The mechanism will come into force next week.

13:19 At least 589 civilians have been killed and 2,685 injured in fighting in Ukraine over the summer, up 45% from the previous three months, according to the UN.

12:55 Ukraine is withdrawing troops from Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast due to the threat of encirclement of the city, the Operational-Strategic Group of Forces Khortytsia reported. They said that Russian troops sent reserves to carry out flank attacks, which exhausted the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units, resulting in the threat of encirclement of the city. "The Supreme Command has granted permission to carry out a maneuver to withdraw units from Vuhledar in order to preserve personnel and military equipment, and to take up a position for further action," the report says.

12:47 Russian troops used a drone to strike a bus in Antonovka, Kherson region - one person was killed, two were wounded, OVA reported.

12:41 In the Shostka community of Sumy Oblast, a number of critical infrastructure facilities were destroyed as a result of a Russian attack, Shostka Mayor Nikolai Noga reported. As a result of the attack, the city of Shostka and the entire community were left without electricity and water, and communications are intermittent.

12:34 Russian military publics write that in Volchansk, Kharkov region, the Russian army allegedly used the ODAB-9000 vacuum bomb for the first time, which the media calls one of the most powerful non-nuclear munitions in the world. The estimated mass of the explosive is 7,100 kg, there is practically no official data on this munition.

12:29 In the morning, Russians struck Slavyansk in Donetsk Oblast, the head of the city's military administration Vadim Lyakh reported. A hit was recorded in a private hotel in the Molochar district, one person was injured. Private homes were also damaged.

11:58 Ukraine will receive demining equipment worth 22 million euros, the Defense Ministry reported. The coalition of demining capabilities agreed on the purchase of pickups and trucks for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the State Special Transport Service. Lithuania is allocating 15 million euros for this purpose, Sweden - 7 million. The decision was made at a meeting in Reykjavik (Iceland).

11:26 Ukraine will increase production of drones, long-range weapons and ballistics in 2025, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said during the second International Defense Industry Forum DFNC2: "We have already invested $4 billion in the development of Ukrainian industry, and next year we plan to increase funding. Our priority is the development of domestic drones and long-range weapons, including ballistic missiles."

More than 280 companies took part in the event and new defense agreements were signed. Zelensky said that within the framework of the forum he held a meeting with the heads and top managers of the world's leading defense companies, and discussed expanding cooperation to strengthen Ukraine's defense sector.

11:17 An air raid alarm was declared and aircraft were raised in the Romanian border area with Ukraine over the Danube on the night of October 2 due to a Russian drone attack in the south of Odessa Oblast, the Romanian Defense Ministry reported. Two Spanish F-18 fighters based at an air base in Romania and two Romanian F-16s were raised for surveillance.

10:59 The French-German defense concern KNDS, which produces Leopard tanks and Caesar howitzers, has opened a subsidiary in Kiev called KNDS Ukraine. The concern's press service reported that the company will service and repair KNDS systems, including Leopard tanks, Caesar and Gepard self-propelled guns, AMX10 RC armored vehicles, and PzH 2000 armored howitzers. In addition, KNDS and Ukroboronprom intend to jointly produce 155-mm artillery ammunition and spare parts in Ukraine.

10:03 At dawn, the enemy attacked the port and border infrastructure in the Izmail district of Odessa region with attack drones, reported the head of the OVA Oleg Kiper. As a result of the attack, two truck drivers were wounded, one of them is a Turkish citizen.

09:34 In the Kherson region, over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, six people were killed and 11 were injured, reported the head of the OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin.

09:25 In Donetsk region on October 1, five people were wounded as a result of Russian shelling: two in Chernigovka, two in Dolgaya Balka and one in Slavyansk, reported the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.

09:16 Air defense destroyed 11 of 32 Shahed-type attack UAVs at night, the Air Force reported. Four enemy drones left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Russia, and ten more were lost in the northern and central regions as a result of electronic warfare countermeasures. Air defense forces operated in the Kirovohrad, Odessa, and Sumy regions.

09:01 Officially, the Ukrainian side has neither confirmed nor denied the complete capture of Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast, but there is no mention of it in the General Staff's morning report. For more information on the situation and the consequences of the loss of the city, see the article Vuhledar Has Fallen.

08:50 At night, Russians attacked the city of Dergachi in the Kharkiv region, five people were injured, including a 14-year-old teenager, said the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov. Two more people were injured the previous evening as a result of shelling of Kupyansk. Also at night, the enemy attacked Kharkiv, no one was injured.

08:17 At the Orlovka checkpoint on the border with Romania, checkpoint operations have been temporarily suspended following the Russian attack overnight, the State Border Service reported. The checkpoint is expected to open at 11:00.

07:58 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of October 2:

personnel - about 655,560 (+1130) people,

tanks - 8887 (+4),

combat armored vehicles - 17,579 (+32),

artillery systems - 18,869 (+14),

MLRS - 1204 (+0),

air defense systems - 963 (+0),

aircraft - 369 (+0),

helicopters - 328 (+0),

Operational-tactical level UAVs - 16,348 (+26),

cruise missiles - 2613 (+0),

ships/boats - 28 (+0),

submarines - 1 (+0),

automotive equipment and tank trucks - 25,692 (+71),

special equipment - 3318 (+4).

07:09 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports that Russian troops likely captured Vuhledar on October 1. However, it is unclear whether the Russian army will achieve rapid advancement beyond the settlement in the near future, analysts note. In addition, according to ISW, Russian troops have advanced in two areas near Pokrovsk and slightly in Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, southwest of Kremenna in the Luhansk region and in Toretsk in the Donetsk region.

Link

Africa Horn

USAID official calls for immediate ceasefire in Sudan

2024-07-03

[SUDANTRIBUNE] The Sudan
Sudan

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel blocking UNRWA food to Gaza since January; Israel says highest single day number of trucks enter the Strip since war began

2024-04-10

The UNWRA is happy to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Hamas.

[GEO.TV] Israel denied access to 40% of all food aid missions 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 an 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...
, said the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees, UNRWA.

It further said that access for the UNRWA is particularly strained with Israel blocking all its food convoys since March — and blocking all its food convoys to the north of the enclave since January, Al Jazeera reported.

Israel wants UNWRA out of the Palestinian Territories altogether. But there are lots of other groups available on the ground to deliver the goods.

Israel claims highest single-day number of aid trucks enters Gaza since war began

[IsraelTimes] Indonesia participates in massive airdrop marking end of Ramadan, in an apparent first time Muslim nation has flown through Israeli airspace; UNRWA disputes Israeli numbers

The highest number of trucks carrying aid entered the Gazoo Strip on Tuesday since the start of the war in October, the Israeli military said. It was further bolstered by an unprecedented airdrop of supplies, including from Indonesia.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the IDF unit responsible for liaising with the Paleostinians, said that 468 aid trucks had been inspected and transferred into Gaza on Tuesday, including 47 to the Strip’s battered north, which aid groups have said is especially difficult to reach. The overall number of trucks, COGAT said, was the highest since the war began, surpassing the previous day’s high of 419. Over the past three days, more than 1,200 aid trucks were inspected by Israeli authorities and entered Gaza.

However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
UN officials disputed the Israeli numbers.

"There has been no significant change in the volume of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza or improved access to the north," the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees said in its daily situation report.

Red Islamic Thingy officials in Egypt also gave different numbers, saying that more than 350 trucks had crossed from there into Gaza on Monday and 258 on Sunday. That was much more than in recent weeks when the number was usually fewer than 200, they said.

However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
UNRWA, the main United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
agency in Gaza, said 223 trucks had entered on Monday, fewer than half the 500 trucks it said are required daily.

The UN claimed the discrepancy came because many of the trucks are only half-full, inflating the Israeli count.

UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke said Israel typically counts the half-filled trucks going through an initial screening process, rather than repacked, full trucks for delivery inside Gaza.

"Trucks that go in, screened by COGAT, are typically only half full. That is a requirement that they have put in place for screening purposes. When we count the trucks on the other side, when they have been reloaded, they are full," Laerke said.

He claimed that Israel was still restricting most trucks from being able to move around.

"When you put up the statistical number of trucks going in and say, ’Look at all these hundreds of trucks coming in’ and you put it against ’Look how few trucks have actually moved around with distribution,’ it’s kind of an own goal, isn’t it," he said.

There was no response from Israeli authorities.

In addition to the trucks, COGAT said 303 packages carrying "hundreds of thousands of meals" were also airdropped over the Paleostinian enclave on Tuesday.

The BBC reported that Tuesday’s airdrop, planned to coincide with the end of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, was the largest coalition airdrop to date during the war, with ten tons of food and water parachuted out of 14 planes from nine nations: the UK, US, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the Netherlands, Germany, La Belle France, Jordan, and — unprecedentedly — Indonesia.

The planes assembled in Jordan’s capital of Amman, flying over Israel to the Gaza Strip. According to the Walla news site, this marked the first known time an Indonesian plane has entered Israeli airspace.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Moslem country, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Its inclusion in the airdrop coalition is striking given Jerusalem had been said to reject a participation request from ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
, with whom Israel maintains some degree of diplomatic relations. Turkey, incensed, announced Tuesday that it would restrict exports to Israel due to the decision.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pie fight, Bella went down under the weight of the custard...
the IDF said it had withdrawn further troops from Gaza.

USAID reluctantly agrees, in a classic “Yes, but” formulation. Update from the Times of Israel at 10:35 a.m. ET::

US Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power acknowledges humanitarian aid into Gaza had risen sharply in the past few days, and says the higher level of aid should be sustained and increased further.

“We are seeing a sea change, which we hope is sustained and expanded upon,” Power says at a hearing of the US Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees US diplomatic and foreign assistance spending.

“We needto go way beyond the 500 trucks,” Power says, referring to the amount of aid that entered the Strip before the war.

“We have famine-like conditions in Gaza and supermarkets filled with food within a couple of kilometers away,” she says at the hearing.

Link

Africa Horn

Sudan confirms approval of humanitarian access through three neighbouring countries

2024-03-07

[SUDANTRIBUNE] The Sudanese government confirmed its approval of the use of the Al-Tina crossing on the Chad-El-Fasher route for the delivery of designated humanitarian aid to the Darfur region.

In a statement released on Wednesday morning, the foreign ministry said it informed the United Nations of its approval to utilize the Al-Tina crossing on the Chad-El-Fasher route for the delivery of designated humanitarian aid.

“This decision is subject to a technical agreement with the Chadian government and should align with UN Security Council Resolution No. 1591” stressed the statement referring to the arms embargo to Darfur adopted in 2005.

The foreign ministry indicated additional access routes for humanitarian aid including, Port Sudan – Atbara – Mellit – El Fasher, the Red Sea route from Egypt to Port Sudan, Wadi Halfa-Dongola crossing and Renk – Kosti route via river and land transport from South Sudan.

Also, El Fasher, Kadugli, and El Obeid airports could be used as alternative access points in case of land route difficulties.

On Tuesday evening, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkwita Salami, stated that the Sudanese government agreed to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery via the Al-Tina border crossing into Darfur, and from South Sudan via Renk’s border crossing to Kosti. Also, humanitarian flights to El Fasher, Kadugli, and El Obeid airports will be permitted.

In a related development, USAID Spokesperson Jessica Jennings stated that Administrator Samantha Power spoke with the head of the Sovereign Council and Commander in Chief of the Sudanese Army Abdel Fattah al-Burhan about the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan.

“Administrator Power stressed the need to re-establish cross-border access from Chad, remove bureaucratic impediments, and ensure safe, sustained, and unhindered humanitarian access for aid workers to urgently deliver life-saving assistance”

The vital delivery of humanitarian aid to Darfur was abruptly halted after authorities revoked permits for WFP’s cross-border truck convoys from Chad. This lifeline had reached over one million people in West and Central Darfur since August. With hunger and malnutrition rapidly escalating in the region, WFP was scaling up its operations to meet the growing needs, but these efforts had been halted by the recent ban.

The WFP chief, Cindy McCain on Tuesday warned that “The war in Sudan risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis”.

McCain further underscored the urgent need for unimpeded access in Sudan to address the escalating food insecurity, which will have significant long-term impacts on the region.

The international official was in Renk in eastern South Sudan where almost 600,000 people have crossed from Sudan in the last 10 months. She visited the crowded transit camps where families arrive hungry and are met with more hunger.

SLM-TC leader criticizes Sudan's humanitarian access plan, calls for inclusive approach

[SUDANTRIBUNE] al-Hadi Idris, head of the Sudan
Sudan

...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
Liberation Movement — Transitional Council, criticized the Sudanese government’s decision regarding the entry of humanitarian aid. He urged the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
to engage with all parties involved in the conflict, including armed movements and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to ensure aid reaches all affected areas.

On Wednesday, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry informed the UN about allowing humanitarian aid through designated sea, land, and air routes, including the al-Tina crossing connecting Chad to North Darfur, a government-controlled area.

In a statement to Sudan Tribune, Idris expressed concern over the UN’s limited consultation with the "Port Sudan government," as he calls it. He emphasized the importance of including all stakeholders, particularly armed movements and the RSF, arguing that securing aid delivery routes requires cooperation.

"The presence of other parties is crucial," Idris stated. "The UN should consult the armed movements and the RSF to agree on crossing points and routes from Chad. Securing these routes requires all parties’ participation to guarantee aid access to war-affected areas."

He further feared that aid might accumulate in government-controlled areas, failing to reach others.

"If the government and the UN fail to address this reality, other parties might independently engage with humanitarian organizations," Idris warned. "Such a scenario could create a situation akin to the Libyan model, with multiple governing bodies, which we must strive to avoid. Currently, the government controls a portion of the country, while other areas remain under the control of different groups."

Previously, humanitarian convoys from Chad entered Darfur under UN supervision. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
the government’s recent ban, citing concerns about the RSF’s potential interference and weapon smuggling, drew criticism from the UN, US, and EU, prompting the revised approach.

Regarding aid distribution, Idris proposed overseeing the process by a high-level civilian committee selected under UN supervision and independent of gangs. The committee, he suggested, should comprise representatives from various regions and cities. He reiterated that the army, armed movements, and RSF be solely responsible for securing aid convoys to prevent attacks and theft.

Due to the lingering conflict, 25 million Sudanese people require humanitarian assistance, nearly 18 million of whom face critical food insecurity. The prolonged fighting has devastated livelihoods and crippled the nation’s industrial sector.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) issued a statement indicating their rejection of the government’s designated aid delivery routes through Port Sudan. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
the RSF expressed their willingness to reach an agreement that ensures transparent border-crossing aid delivery based on well-defined principles.

The paramilitary force accused the army of weaponizing humanitarian aid by deliberately obstructing its access to the states of Darfur, Kordofan, al-Jazirah, and Khartoum.

Link

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