| International-UN-NGOs |
| Three members of UN commission investigating Israel resign amid Trump crackdown |
| 2025-07-15 |
 [IsraelTimes] Resignations, including of former UN rights chief, come as the US imposes sanctions on international anti-Israel investigatorsThe three members of a United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... commission tasked with investigating Israel quietly resigned earlier this month. Navi Pillay, Chris Sidoti, and Miloon Kothari, who made up the UN’s Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Paleostinian Territory, submitted their resignation letters to the president of the UN’s Human Rights Council. The letters surfaced on Monday. Pillay, 83, the commission’s chair, said she was resigning "owing to age, medical issues and the weight of several other commitments" on July 8. Sidoti resigned a day later, saying Pillay’s retirement was "an appropriate time to re-constitute the commission," and Kothari said the group had reached an "understanding" during the previous week. The letters were posted on a back-end Human Rights Council website and first publicized by UN Watch, a nonprofit monitoring group. The commission will continue to exist once it appoints new members. Jurg Lauber, the head of the UN’s Human Rights Council, asked the council’s member states to propose new members by August 31. The commission released periodic reports on the Israel-Paleostinian conflict that overwhelmingly blamed Israel. The commission’s most recent report was released in May. Pillay, a South African jurist, was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014, during which time she frequently criticized Israel’s actions in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppressionand disproportionate response... She chaired the commission of inquiry, which Jewish groups, Israel, the US and other countries have condemned for its alleged bias. It is the council’s first open-ended commission of inquiry, the UNHRC’s highest level of investigation. The commission overwhelmingly blames Israel for the conflict and accuses the Jewish state of other misdeeds, such as stealing natural resources. Kothari caused a firestorm of controversy in 2022 when he said that social media was "controlled largely by the Jewish lobby," espousing a common antisemitic trope, and questioned why Israel was allowed in the UN. Pillay defended Kothari’s comments. Pillay has dismissed antisemitism concerns as a "diversion" and "lies," and called Israeli security concerns "a fiction." In 2014, over 100 members of Congress signed a letter to Pillay decrying the UNHRC’s bias against Israel under her leadership, saying the council "simply cannot be taken seriously as a human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... organization" while it was probing Israel, but not Hamas  ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...The commission’s members resigned as the Trump administration cracks down on international Sherlocks into Israel. In February, the US slapped wide-ranging sanctions on International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan over his decision to file arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The court works closely with the UN. Khan’s US-based assets were frozen and he was barred from entering the country. He lost access to his email, his bank accounts were frozen and his American staffers were told they were at risk of arrest if they were to enter the US, The News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported in May. Earlier this month, the US imposed sanctions against UN rapporteur for Paleostinian rights La Belle Francesca Albanese, a harsh critic of Israel with a history of antisemitism. Like Kothari, Albanese has inveighed against the "Jewish lobby." The commission’s opponents celebrated the trio’s departure. "First, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... made the historic decision to sanction La Belle Francesca Albanese," said Hillel Neuer, the head of UN Watch. "Now the architects of the UN’s anti-Israel inquisition are fleeing the ship. The tide is turning." Anne Bayefsky, the head of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and the nonprofit Human Rights Voices, said Pillay "has spent almost twenty years championing antisemitic causes from the highest of UN jobs." Both the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council condemn Israel more than any other country every year. Related: Navi Pillay 07/10/2025 UN blasted for funding committee 'created to destroy the Jewish state,' despite budget crisis Navi Pillay 10/11/2024 UN probe claims Israel seeking to ‘destroy’ Gaza healthcare system Navi Pillay 02/18/2022 Israel rejects cooperation with ‘morally bankrupt’ UN rights probe into May fighting Related: Miloon Kothari 01/17/2024 Israel forbids doctors from speaking to UN group investigating Oct. 7 atrocities Miloon Kothari 01/25/2023 Congress members urge removal of UN official for antisemitism exposed by the Times of Israel Miloon Kothari 07/30/2022 UN Official Investigating Israel: ‘Jewish Lobby' Controls Social Media' |
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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Japanese Salmon in a Russian River: How Kurosawa Rubbed Soldiers' Belts |
| 2025-07-15 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Vasily Avchenko [REGNUM] In July 1975, Akira Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival, soon winning an Oscar and a bunch of other awards. What is interesting about this Soviet-Japanese film, shot half a century ago, today?  Its literary basis is the books "Along the Ussuri Region" and "Dersu Uzala" by the Far East researcher, scientist, and writer Vladimir Arsenyev (1872-1930). In them, according to Gorky's formulation, he managed to unite Brehm and Fenimore Cooper. HIS EXCELLENCY'S ADJUTANT IN THE USSURI TAIGA The works describing the expeditions to Primorye and other events of 1902–1910 are linked by a common hero, the Gold (Nanai) Dersu Uzala. His prototype is the Ussuri taiga hunter Derchu Odzhal, who lost his family due to a smallpox epidemic. In 1906 and 1907 he was a guide for Arsenyev's detachment. A year later, Derchu was killed near Khabarovsk, at Korfovskaya station. Akira Kurosawa knew and loved Russian classics. He made The Idiot based on Dostoevsky and The Lower Depths based on Gorky, used motifs from Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich in To Live, and thought about adapting Taras Bulba and Notes from the House of the Dead. Kurosawa became interested in Arsenyev's works back in the late 1940s and even looked for locations on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. However, he later said: "In Hokkaido, such a film... could not have been made. The scale of nature there is different, not like the Ussuri taiga. A person like Dersu Uzala could not have lived there." In the early 1970s, the Japanese classic was going through a crisis. His film "Under the Knock of Tram Wheels" was a flop, the director was thinking about suicide... And suddenly - as a sign of warming between Japan and the USSR and a life preserver - an invitation to Mosfilm. The script was written by Kurosawa himself and writer Yuri Nagibin. The director approved Yuri Solomin for the role of Arsenyev, having highly praised the actor's work in Yevgeny Tashkov's "Adjutant of His Excellency". It was more difficult with the lead actor. If in the Soviet film by Agassi Babayan "Dersu Uzala" (1961) the "foreigner" was played by the actor from Kazakhstan Kasym Zhakibayev, then Kurosawa initially saw his "talisman" Toshiro Mifune in this role. Among others, they tried out Dersu and the Nanai Kola Beldy, who sang on stage on behalf of all the northern peoples at once (“I’ll take you to the tundra,” “And the deer are better,” “The Chukchi in the tent,” etc.). In the end, however, Arsenyev’s companion was played by Tuvan actor Maxim Munzuk. PAINTED BOARS AND GILDED LEAVES The filming took place in Primorye, the expedition was based in the city of Arsenyev. Not only people were involved, but also animals - tiger Artyom, bear Rita, red deer Katya. Wild boars were played by black-painted state farm boars. Translating Arsenyev’s semi-documentary prose, a hybrid of “Western” and scientific report, into the language of cinema is not easy: lengthy descriptions of landscapes, a mass of Latin terms… Kurosawa, who was maniacally demanding of every frame, insisted that the straps on Dersu’s knapsack be made of rawhide, and that the actors’ moustaches and beards be real. He personally aged soldiers’ belts with sandpaper, straightened stones in a stream, and tinted leaves to prolong the golden autumn… In his memoirs, Kurosawa called these filmings in the USSR “the spawning of Japanese salmon in a Russian river.” The Eastern-style meditative philosophical film almost turned into a scandal. Relations between China and the USSR in those years, after the 1969 battles on Damansky Island, left much to be desired. Beijing perceived the film adaptation by Arsenyev (who was indeed a real hawk in matters concerning Russia's national interests) as an element of an "anti-Chinese international conspiracy." The Chinese media wrote: this is propaganda of "expansionist policy" by "the renegade clique of Soviet revisionists." In particular, criticism was raised about the scene where an old Chinese man bows to Arsenyev: "This was done on strict orders from the leaders of the Soviet revisionist empire, who want modern China to bow to the USSR in the same way." The head of the KGB, Yuri Andropov, even reported to the Central Committee of the CPSU that the case could turn into a “rather burning political problem”… Kurosawa, however, wisely noted: “I… am against including politics in this film.” THE ENCHANTED WANDERER Today, hardly anyone would see a political subtext in it. But in Arsenyev's books and Kurosawa's film, something else remains - the main and timeless: man, his place in the world, responsibility for everything that happens on the planet. Arsenyev called Dersu a "primitive communist", alien to the "vices that... urban civilization brings". His Dersu is a person living in harmony with himself and the world, critical of technical progress in the absence of moral progress. He is a bearer of ecological consciousness and tolerance (in the highest sense of the word), a stalker-guide not only to the "temple of the taiga", but also to the hidden dimensions of another, subtle world. No less important is Arsenyev himself, the author and hero, an enchanted wanderer, a city dweller who became a taiga dweller. This metropolitan native settled forever in a distant Far Eastern province, making his own personal "turn to the East." The infantry officer became a scientist of the broadest profile, a defender of indigenous peoples and nature. His books, written at the same time as Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West, contain not only descriptions of the taiga, rivers and mountains of the Ussuri region, but also criticism of modern civilization. Finally, Arsenyev is a consistent patriot who at all times (including dark and troubled ones) defended the interests of his Fatherland, no matter what it was called at one or another historical moment. Soon we will be able to see Dmitry Kiselev's series "Arsenyev". The main role is played by Yevgeny Mironov, Dersu is played by Kazakh actor Ondasyn Besikbasov. The journey through the wilds of the Ussuri region, which began more than a century ago, continues. |
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| -Lurid Crime Tales- | ||
| Police arrest international traveler allegedly carrying nearly $3M in drugs bound for Brazil | ||
| 2025-07-15 | ||
[FoxNews] Vance Ray Randolph faces narcotics charges after attempting to smuggle drugs to Sao Paulo
Vance Ray Randolph was arrested on June 28 at the Atlanta International Airport after allegedly trying to take the drugs to Sao Paulo, Brazil, according to a Saturday Facebook post by the Atlanta Police Department. According to officials, Randolph tried to travel with THC-extracted products and marijuana.
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Twilight of the Mullahs? - REVIEW: ‘Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History' by Vali Nasr |
| 2025-07-14 |
| [Free Beacon] In publishing, as in much of life, timing is everything. And by that measure, if by no other, Iran’s Grand Strategy, Vali Nasr’s latest analysis of the Islamic Republic, is a smashing success. First available just two short weeks before Israel’s stunningly successful aerial campaign against the mullahs, Nasr’s book attempts—but fails—to frame the Islamic Republic as having "evolved into a prototypical nation-state" whose "aims are now secular in nature." To Nasr, a professor and distinguished Middle East specialist at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies who emigrated from Iran to the United States after the ayatollahs seized power in 1979, Islam is merely "an instrument in the hands of [Iran’s] political class and military leaders to realize political and economic interests at home and define national interest abroad." Iran, he argues, is essentially a normal country following a rational path. Yet Nasr’s analysis repeatedly undermines his own thesis, as history amply demonstrates how the regime’s insistence on religious and ideological purity has over and over again—including in its most recent humiliation by Israel—stymied the country’s political, economic, and military goals. As Henry Kissinger famously put it in 2006, "Iran has to take a decision whether it wants to be a nation or a cause"; since then, it has repeatedly opted for the cause. Nasr begins his narration in earnest with the revolution, when the clerics overthrew the shah and kidnapped 66 American embassy employees. He concedes that "Iran’s foreign policy effectively abandoned any pragmatic considerations that could have involved engaging the United States; instead, it became a battle between good and evil." So, too, did Ayatollah Khomeini’s determination to "export the revolution" to neighboring countries, entailing the expenditure of vast sums on proxy armies across the Levant, short-circuit any reasonable prospects of economic and political success. The absurd nine-year-long Iran-Iraq war, which claimed over one million lives and resulted in no territorial gains, served to consolidate the clerics’ viselike grip on the country and calcify its combative approach to foreign policy. Far from practical, Khomeini announced that "the path to Jerusalem ran through Karbala," a city in Iraq. His successor as supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has proven even more conceptually rigid. Nasr observes that Khamenei regarded the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the consequence of the dissipation of ideological vigilance and embrace of Western liberal ideas in its stead" and, accordingly, has steadfastly resisted any meaningful efforts at political or religious reform. He repeatedly crossed swords with would-be reformers within the regime, and he always prevailed. Nasr notes that, decades ago, Khamenei articulated a set of industrial, economic, cultural, and technological targets to be reached 20 years hence but candidly acknowledges that "Iran has not progressed on the goals of its Vision 2025." |
| Link |
| -Obits- |
| The family has announced passing of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari |
| 2025-07-14 |
[X]
Muhammadu Buhari, who took power in Nigeria by both coup and ballot box, dead at 82 [CBC] Former military ruler who became a 'converted democrat' fought endemic corruption Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, who led Africa's most populous country from 2015-23 and was the first Nigerian leader to oust an incumbent through the ballot box, died in London on Sunday, a presidential spokesperson said. "President Buhari died today in London at about 4:30 p.m., following a prolonged illness," President Bola Tinubu's spokesperson said in a post on social media platform X. Buhari, 82, who first led the country as a military ruler after a coup in the 1980s, earned a devoted following for his brand of anti-corruption conviction politics. He referred to himself as a "converted democrat" and swapped his military uniform for kaftans and prayer caps. "I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody," was a constant refrain Buhari told supporters and critics alike. Buhari defeated  Goodluck Jonathan... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau.Other than that he's pretty useless as the Boko Haram debacle shows... , who served as president from 2010-15, in what was judged to be Nigeria's fairest election to date. Many hoped the retired major-general would crack down on gangs, just as he had as the country's military head of state. Instead, violence that had mostly been confined to the northeast spread. That left swaths of Nigeria outside the control of its stretched security forces as button men in the northwest, armed separatists and gangs in the southeast roamed unchecked. Much of Buhari's appeal lay in the anti-corruption ethos that was a central plank of his agenda both as a military and civilian ruler. He said endemic corruption in Nigeria's political culture was holding people back. But Buhari quickly disappointed after his 2015 win. He took six months to name his cabinet. During that time, the oil-dependent economy was hobbled by low crude prices, prompting people to call him "Baba Go Slow." His second victory in 2019 came despite his initial term being blighted by Nigeria's first recession in a generation, murderous Moslem attacks on oilfields and repeated hospital stays. Born on Dec. 17, 1942, in Daura, in the northwestern state of Katsina, Buhari enrolled in the army at 19. He would eventually rise to the rank of major-general. He seized power in 1983 as a military ruler, promising to revitalize a mismanaged country. Buhari took a tough line on everything from the conditions sought by the International Monetary Fund to unruliness in bus lineups. In 1984, his administration attempted to kidnap a former minister and vocal critic living in Britannia. The plot failed when London airport officials opened the crate containing the kidnapped politician. Buhari's first stint in power was short-lived. He was removed after only 18 months by another military officer, Ibrahim Babangida. He spent much of the following 30 years in fringe political parties and trying to run for president until his eventual victory over Jonathan in 2015. Related: Muhammadu Buhari 04/23/2025 Fulani expansion war, a federal pet, by Ochereome Nnanna - Vanguard News Muhammadu Buhari 11/17/2024 Millions Of Dollars Meant For Boko Haram Fight Invested In U.S. Luxury Real Estate Tied To Ex-Nigerian Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, Allies Muhammadu Buhari 12/29/2023 Nigeria: Christmas Massacre Death Toll Hits 195, 10,000 Displaced, More Than 1,000 Homes Burned Down
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| Europe |
| All Palestinians in Gaza Are Eligible for Asylum in France, Court Rules |
| 2025-07-13 |
| [Breitbart] All Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip will be eligible for the first time to apply for asylum in France, a court ruled on Friday. Deciding on a case brought by a Palestinian mother seeking asylum in the wake of the Islamist Hamas October 7th terror attacks on Israel, France’s National Court of Asylum (CNDA) ruled in her favour given the “war methods” of the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza, which the court found were “serious enough to be regarded as methods of persecution.” The decision overturned a previous rejection from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Effrusion (OFPRA) in November, which noted that the Palestinian woman was not specifically being “persecuted” and therefore could only be eligible for “subsidiary protection”, a lesser form of asylum which only allows for a four-year temporary residence permit rather than the ten years of protection guaranteed to refugees. The case paved the way for the CNDA to declare that all Palestinians living in Gaza should be entitled to asylum protection in France, Le Figaro reports. The court based its decision on the Geneva Convention, which says that people who face “persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion,” should be considered refugees. The court specifically cited the supposed persecution based on “nationality” faced by Palestinians in Gaza, despite France, like most other nations, not recognising Palestine as a state. Nevertheless, the judges said that they possessed the “characteristics” of a nationality, which according to the Convention include belonging to a “group determined by its cultural, ethnic or linguistic identity, common geographical or political origins or its relationship with the population of another state.” While the ruling is novel in declaring such “persecution” of Palestinians, legal experts noted that it would likely only impact around 20 per cent of the population of Gaza, given that 80 per cent were already classified as being refugees by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and were therefore already eligible for protection in France. Although the ruling was hailed by leftist groups such as Amnesty International, others expressed concern about allowing more Palestinians into France, including a former Muslim turned anti-Islamist activist and female rights campaigner, Henda Ayari. “While France is already grappling with explosive community tensions, it chooses today to unconditionally welcome refugees from Gaza, even though more than 30 Muslim countries refuse to take them in. Why should France, once again, play the role of humanitarian substitute while others categorically refuse to host these populations in their countries?” she questioned. “We’re talking about a region where Hamas recruits, where Islamist ideology and anti-Semitic, anti-Western hatred are deeply rooted, where many celebrated the massacres of October 7. We cannot pretend to believe that they are all ‘innocent victims.’ Some of these individuals who will arrive in France may have participated in, supported, or condoned terrorism. And tomorrow? They will be housed, fed, and supported at the expense of French taxpayers… while our retirees are dying and our neighbourhoods are exploding,” Ayari lamented. |
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Former UN inspector: Satellite images seem to show all 3 tunnel entrances at Isfahan nuke site still blocked |
| 2025-07-13 |
| [IsraelTimes] David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector, says that satellite imagery from Wednesday appears to show that all three tunnel entrances at the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran remain blocked after Israeli and US strikes last month. “Many believe that at least some of the enriched uranium stocks are held inside this tunnel complex, but any such stocks appear to remain inaccessible,” writes the head of the Institute for Science and International Security, in a post on X. “To access these stocks, the Iranians would have to dig through and clear about 20 meters of rubble or backfill to reach any of the tunnel entrances and begin excavation or repair activities,” he says. Albright says that the images show no earth-moving equipment near a tunnel entrance. A senior Israeli official said Thursday that Israeli intelligence shows that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had not been removed from Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan before the three nuclear sites were struck by the US last month amid Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, and has not been moved since. The official suggested, however, that the Iranians might still be able to gain access to the enriched uranium at Isfahan but that it would be very difficult to remove it.
… to dig through and clear about 20 meters of rubble or backfill to reach any of the tunnel entrances and begin excavation or repair activities. The July 9 image shows no earth moving equipment or other heavy machinery present at any tunnel entrance. However, it appears that roadblocks were established on the street leading to the southernmost tunnel entrance. Of note, there are no visible activities within the main complex housing the now destroyed uranium conversion facilities and uranium metal production plant. To gain access to the complex, Iran will first need to conduct a survey using drones or radiological HAZMAT teams to assess the danger of the site and distribution of radiological and chemical material dispersed by the bombings. Debris and rubble will then need to be removed before any repair or rebuild activities commence. This is a lengthy and complicated process that will take the Iranians some time to complete. Iran may also be holding off on any such activities as they are easily spotted via overhead imagery as a reconstitution effort, which may be met with further Israeli or American attacks. At Natanz, as of July 8, the only operations we've observed have been at the penetration hole above the buried enrichment hall caused by the GBU-57 MOP. The hole has been filled in and a cap has been placed over it. Analysis by: @DAVIDHALBRIGHT1 , @SarahBurkhard , @SFnuclear , and the Good ISIS Team. Related: Isfahan: 2025-07-10 How Russia Saved Its Transcaucasian Allies for Centuries Isfahan: 2025-07-07 BRICS nations condemn Israel over Iran war, in victory for Islamic Republic Isfahan: 2025-07-04 AAR: Scorecard Israel Related: Esfahan: 2025-06-22 Trump says US has bombed Fordo nuclear plant in attack on Iran UPDATE: Trump bombs 3 nuke sites Esfahan: 2024-02-27 IAEA warns Iran building up uranium stockpile, still barring senior monitors Esfahan: 2021-04-10 UN atomic watchdog reports new Iranian breach of nuclear deal |
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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel, EU agree to boost Gaza aid: ‘More trucks, more crossings, and more routes’ |
| 2025-07-11 |
| [IsraelTimes] Israel to open several aid corridors, including through Egypt and Jordan, allow bakeries and kitchens to reopen, ensure security for aid workers, repair vital infrastructure Israel and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... have agreed upon "significant steps" to increase the flow of humanitarian aid  into 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 oppressionand disproportionate response... Strip "in the coming days," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced Thursday. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed the agreement, saying the security cabinet decided last Sunday on measures "to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza," including "more trucks, more crossings, and more routes for the humanitarian efforts." Speaking alongside Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephu, Sa’ar thanked his counterparts "for the fruitful dialogue that we are conducting — with you and the EU — on the humanitarian issue." The discussions are "based on an understanding of human needs and of the threat that Hamas  ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...and the Gaza Strip have posed to Israel over the past 20 years," added Sa’ar, saying, "this dialogue is important and it will continue." The announcements by Sa’ar and Kallas confirmed an earlier report by Bloomberg, which said that a deal had been reached enabling the reopening of several aid corridors, including humanitarian routes through Egypt and Jordan, and several other crossing points in northern and southern Gaza. "These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas," Kallas said. According to the top European diplomat, the agreement will see a "substantial increase" in the daily entry of trucks supplying food and non-food items; the opening of several crossing points in northern and southern Gaza; the reopening of humanitarian routes through Egypt and Jordan; resumed operations of bakeries and public kitchens in Gaza; resumed fuel deliveries to humanitarian facilities "up to an operational level"; security for aid workers; and reparations on works for "vital infrastructure like the resumption of the power supply to the water desalination facility." "The EU stands ready to coordinate with all relevant humanitarian stakeholders, United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... agencies and NGOs on the ground, to ensure swift implementation of those urgent steps," added Kallas, adding that the EU "calls again for an immediate ceasefire" and release of all hostages. Since late May, Israel has handed authority over aid distribution in Gaza to the Israel- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in a stated effort to prevent aid supplies from reaching Hamas. The GHF’s operations have been strongly criticized by the international community for failing to address the humanitarian needs in Gaza. It is unclear under which bodies the expanded aid measures will be operated. The EU has been increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza amid Israel’s war against Hamas, which began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led bully boyz murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and took 251 hostages. Israel has said that it respects international law and that operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas. The EU is Israel’s biggest commercial partner, with 42.6 billion euros ($48.2 billion) traded in goods in 2024. Trade in services reached 25.6 billion euros in 2023. More than 100 aid groups and other organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, last month urged Brussels to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement "at least in part." Spain has also called for the agreement to be suspended, while Germany has come out against such a move. Suspending the EU-Israel accord outright would require unanimity among member states — something diplomats have said from the outset was virtually impossible. Halting diplomatic dialogue with Israel — a measure that was already rejected last year — also requires backing from all EU countries. Trade measures could instead be adopted with a qualified majority, diplomats have said, cautioning, however, that agreeing on those might also prove tricky. |
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| 2025-07-11 | ||||||||||||||
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| Home Front: Politix |
| NYC hopeful Mamdani’s vow to arrest Netanyahu likely oversteps what US mayors can do |
| 2025-07-11 |
| [IsraelTimes] US federal law largely handcuffs local authorities when it comes to cooperating with the ICC. ‘It would be akin to a publicity stunt,’ says expert If Zohran Mamdani …Shiite, “Democratic Socialist of America”, red diaper nepo-baby, naturalized Indian-American who couldn’t get into Columbia because he falsely and stupidly claimed to be African-American on his freshman application despite his father being a tenured professor there… has his way, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will find himself under arrest by New York City’s finest the next time he steps foot in the city.Mamdani, the Democratic party nominee and presumed frontrunner in the city’s mayoral race, has repeatedly said he would arrest the Israeli premier should Netanyahu visit while he is running city hall, citing an International Criminal Court warrant on war crimes charges. "As mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu. This is a city that — our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also," Mamdani said in a December interview with the Zeteo outlet. But as with some of Mamdani’s other campaign promises, the candidate may be overreaching on what powers he will have as mayor — even one running the largest city in the United States. "The short answer is that this would almost certainly not happen," said Prof. David Bosco of Indiana University, Bloomington, a scholar of international law who wrote a 2014 book about the ICC. The Hague-based court, formed in 2002 to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and charges of genocide, issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant last year on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in a bombshell accusation against Israel’s leadership. More than 120 countries are members of the court, curtailing travel for Netanyahu and Gallant to countries that have promised not to honor the warrants or are not signatories to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, such as Israel or the US, where Netanyahu visited this week. The court does not have the power to enforce arrests itself and relies on member states to carry out arrests so defendants can stand trial in the Hague. Mamdani has acknowledged that the US is not a party to the ICC, without explaining how he would still carry out an arrest. Addressing the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction in the US during a panel at a synagogue last month, Mamdani said, "I believe our city should be in compliance with international law." Rebecca Hamilton, a professor of international law at American University and a former lawyer with the ICC, said that, in theory, countries that are not party to the court could still carry out arrests based on ICC warrants. "The court can ask any non-state party for help with an arrest warrant, and that state can decide whether or not to do so," Hamilton said. "It is just that only states that have joined the Rome Statute are under a legal obligation to execute an ICC warrant." It is up to individual countries to decide if local officials have the authority to execute an international warrant, Hamilton added. ) US federal law prohibits municipal governments from cooperating with the court, though. The American Service-Members’ Protection Act, passed in 2002, bars local authorities from cooperating with the court or providing the ICC support. "No agency or entity of any State or local government, including any court, may cooperate with the International Criminal Court," the law says. A separate federal law prohibits imprisonment, intimidation, harassment, threats and obstruction against foreign officials, including heads of state. Imprisonment of a foreign official can result in a fine and up to three years in prison. The Trump administration is also no fan of the ICC and sanctioned the court in February to penalize it for the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. Netanyahu is a frequent visitor to New York City, traveling there nearly every September to attend the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in Manhattan. Even though Netanyahu will be in the city, matters like international warrants remain the purview of the federal government. "Diplomatic immunity and the conduct of foreign relations are federal matters and the federal government is given wide discretion by the courts to manage foreign policy and international legal relations," Bosco said, adding that the Trump administration and Congress have both opposed the ICC warrants. Even if Mamdani wanted to put Netanyahu in cuffs for jaywalking, US law and international custom grant diplomatic immunity to members of foreign diplomatic missions, including visiting dignitaries, preventing them from being arrested or prosecuted for ordinary crimes like traffic violations. Exceptions are only made in extreme cases, such as threats to public safety or "Even if New York authorities were somehow to attempt an arrest, it would be akin to a publicity stunt that would be immediately opposed and reversed," with backing from federal courts, Bosco said. A New York City mayor does not have the executive power to make arrests, but does rely on the NYPD. If Mamdani ordered Netanyahu arrested, the order would go to the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for legal matters, said Mitch Silber, the former NYPD director of intelligence analysis and the head of the Community Security Initiative, a Jewish community security group. The deputy commissioner would review the order’s legality and advise the police commissioner on whether the arrest could be carried out. If the arrest was not deemed legal, the NYPD wouldn’t take action, said Silber, who added that he is not familiar with the relevant federal laws and could not weigh in on the ICC’s jurisdiction in New York. "The NYPD can’t take illegal acts, even if the mayor wants them to," Silber said. "If it’s an act that they’re prohibited from doing by federal law, then they’re not going to do it because it’s going to get overturned immediately." Netanyahu would also need to be extradited to the Hague to stand trial, which would require the involvement of federal authorities, like the Department of Justice or the US Marshals, Silber said. The Department of Justice declined to comment on Mamdani’s vow to arrest Netanyahu. Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment. While countries are technically obligated by the Rome Statute, the ICC has no enforceable way to compel states not to simply ignore its arrest warrants. In April, Hungary chose not to arrest Netanyahu when he visited, despite Hungary being a member of the court at the time. Hungary later withdrew from the ICC. During his visit to Washington, DC, this week, Netanyahu said he still plans to visit New York and that he was "not concerned" about Mamdani’s pledge to arrest him if elected. "There’s enough craziness in the world, but I guess it never ends," Netanyahu said. "It’s silly in many ways because it’s just not serious." "I’ll get him out," US President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... said as Netanyahu was speaking. Trump has been vocally opposed to Mamdani, calling him a "Communist lunatic" and threatening to arrest Mamdani if he opposes federal immigration enforcement in New York City. Mamdani, a harsh critic of Israel who has identified as anti-Zionist, is the heavy favorite to win November’s general election for mayor. He swept to victory in the Democratic primary last month with a campaign centered on addressing affordability in the city, promising to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund cheaper housing and groceries while making buses and kindergartens free. Critics say he lacks the authority to see many of his ideas to fruition on his own without the support of the New York State legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul. A poll released last month found that Mamdani’s pledge to arrest Netanyahu was not popular with New Yorkers. According to the survey, 45% of New Yorkers oppose acting on the ICC warrant, while 36% support it. The remainder were undecided or did not have an opinion. On the other hand, local or federal authorities in New York could potentially take action against the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, though sanctions currently prevent him from entering the country. Khan allegedly sexually abused one of his subordinates repeatedly, including in a Manhattan hotel in 2023, according to a May report in the Wall Street Journal. Khan canceled an investigative trip to Israel and 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 oppressionand disproportionate response... and rushed out the warrants shortly after the allegations surfaced, the report said. The report suggested Khan issued the warrants to build support for himself with anti-Israel ICC member states, and forestall his accuser, who strongly supported the warrants. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment on whether Khan was being investigated. Khan has denied the accusations. Related: Zohran Mamdani 07/08/2025 Democrats call for violence to counter Trump agenda and tell lawmakers to prepare to 'get shot' Zohran Mamdani 07/07/2025 Explosive report: Obama was the sleeper cell, Mamdani is the detonator to collapse America Zohran Mamdani 07/05/2025 Nearly 1/3 of New York voters support Mamdani’s statements on BDS, intifada — poll |
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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban reduces poppy cultivation in Afghanistan by 14 times |
| 2025-07-10 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin. [ColonelCassad] The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that after the Taliban came to power, the area of poppy crops in Afghanistan decreased by 14 times.  Periodically they halt production to empty overflowing warehouses. Sometimes they stop to placate outside governments, others to punish locals by stopping their income…This is essentially a repeat of the situation in the last year before the US aggression against Afghanistan. In 1999-2000, the Taliban negotiated international recognition and, against this background, sharply reduced the area under poppy crops. Heroin production in Afghanistan was then steadily falling. But in 2001, aggression and occupation of Afghanistan followed. The area under poppy crops and heroin production began to grow rapidly, setting new records. As soon as the Taliban returned to power, the situation of 2000-2001 began to repeat itself. On the question of who actually supported the growth of drug production in Afghanistan. Russia, China and Iran had previously made it clear to the Taliban that the key to international recognition lay, among other things, in the issue of reducing drug production in Afghanistan. The Taliban are keeping their promises in this matter. And this means that fewer drugs will flow to Central Asia, from Central Asia to Russia and from there to Europe. Related: Poppy 07/05/2025 Permitted terrorist organization (Permitted by Russia) Poppy 06/03/2025 Islamic Cleric Al-Qasim Calls For Resistance Against Amnesty International Amid Plot To Silence Human Rights Body Poppy 05/31/2025 Opium poppy cultivation surges in Iran’s Kermanshah |
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