Palestinians struggling to collect drinkable water in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. (Photo: Hatem Khaled / Reuters)
Calling it an “act of genocide,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that since October 2023 Israeli authorities have deliberately obstructed Palestinians’ access to the adequate amount of clean water required for survival in the Gaza Strip. Full report with graphs and photos linked at bottom.
“If we can’t find drinkable water, we drink the sea water,” a displaced Palestinian father testified to HRW. “It happened to me many times when I had to drink the sea water. You don’t understand how much we are suffering.”
Moreover, for years ecologists have accused Israel of using sewage as a weapon against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to spread disease and misery. See report linked at bottom.
A Gaza residential street is inundated by sewage. (Photo: Rosa Schiano / International Solidarity Movement)
Meanwhile, over the past 24 hours the IDF killed 32 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including children, and at least four in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians mourn over the body of loved ones killed after an IDF strike at Al-Ahli Arab hospital (AKA the Baptist Hospital) in Gaza City. (Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP)
During this 14-month pogrom, the Gaza Health Ministry reports that a minimum of 45,129 Palestinians have been killed and 107,338 wounded or maimed, including non-combatant women and children. The number of deaths is likely to be far higher as many bodies are believed to remain buried underneath the rubble across the devastated Strip. The IDF claims that 17,000 of the deceased were militants. The retribution ratio for the 7 Oct 2023 raid that killed 1,200 Israelis is 40:1. The 250 innocent Israelis were seized to conduct a prisoner swap for any number of the thousands of Palestinians being held incommunicado without trial or hearing in security detention by the IDF. See full report linked at bottom.
This week Amnesty International projected “End Gaza Genocide” on the EU HQ building in 24 languages similar to this:
In a report released earlier this month, Amnesty International concluded that Israel’s devastating war on Gaza meets the legal threshold for genocide. Apologists for the brutal Likud regime have feebly attempted to parse the language of this damning report, but as the Immortal Bard wrote: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Amnesty has called on EU leaders meeting to halt all arms transfers to Israel, ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and ensure justice and accountability for Israeli crimes.
(The above photo courtesy of the Washington Post was verified as genuine by snopes.com)
The avuncular-looking Avi Dichter must have heard your plea, young lady.
Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter (Likud) said: “We’re rolling out Nakba 2023.” (Photo: Abir Sultan / Flash90)
The IDF certainly has, Sir.
Is Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, Holocaust survivor Rene Lichtman, the government of Ireland, or US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) incapable of describing ethnic cleansing or genocide– or are they antisemitic for calling out the patently and blazingly obvious? Are people all over the world blind?
Fortunately, not everyone in the world is blind to suffering.
For years, the US Democratic Party position for peace in the Middle East was based on crafting a Two-State Solution. The Likud Party’s interests are antithetical to that of the US Democratic Party. Not paying attention to the American peace movement cost Kamala Harris the White House in 2024.
That any world leader takes Benjamin Netanyahu’s telephone call or wants to be photographed next to him absolutely staggers the imagination.
Sources:
https://theecologist.org/2013/nov/02/gaza-sewage-weapon-war
Ukraine/Russia Update
Janis Timma in an undated photo (Credit: Getty)
The body of Latvian basketball star Janis Timma was found after he reportedly fell from a Moscow apartment complex.
The 32-year-old, who played for teams like Zenit Saint Petersburg and Orlando Magic, was discovered in the stairway of a high-rise building on his ex-wife Anna Sedokova’s birthday.
The NBA ace had recently faced backlash when he announced his intention to play professionally in Putin’s Russia despite his brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Janis Timma told Latvian outlet LSM in Oct 2024:
“It’s something interesting to me. I thought why not give it a try?”
Popular Ukrainian singer and actress Anna Sedokova was pictured crying after learning of her ex-husband’s completely unexpected demise in Putin’s Russia. (Credit: Instagram)
The preliminary cause of the young athlete’s death with his whole life and career ahead of him was ruled as a suicide.
Most likely thanks to the UK, Ukraine will have a new weapon to fight Russia.
A Ukrainian commander revealed the existence of the weapon, called “Tryzub,” during a defence conference on Monday.
Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi, who commands Kiev’s unmanned forces, said Ukraine was only the fifth country to have an operational laser.
Ukrainian troops will use the laser to shoot drones and planes out of the sky (Photo: Reuters)
“As of now, we can use this laser to shoot down aircraft at altitudes of over two kms.”
Tryzub is the name of the golden trident on Ukraine’s coat of arms and is the symbol of the country. Ukraine developed the weapon most likely with help from the UK which designed the DragonFire DEW system.
Former UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps suggested in Apr 2024 the UK’s laser weapon DragonFire could be sent to Ukraine.
Finally and as expected, North Korean soldiers have become expendable “cannon fodder” for Vladimir Putin and the Russians are trying to cover it up.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says this blurred image from a video shows Russians burning the face of a dead North Korean soldier. (Volodymyr Zelensky’s official Telegram channel)
At least 100 North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia have been killed, with nearly 1,000 wounded in the Kursk region, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). The high casualties were attributed to the troops’ inexperience with drones and unfamiliar terrain.
A language barrier is hurting enemy efforts as well. North Korean soldiers opened fire on the vehicles of the so-called Akhmat battalion resulting in eight dead Kadyrovites (Chechens loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov). In military terms this is called “fratricide.”
North Korea has reportedly sent over 10,000 soldiers and significant artillery supplies to aid Russia’s war effort against Ukraine which neither Russia nor North Korea have officially confirmed.
Despite the reported losses, intelligence suggests North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is training additional troops for deployment. Experts say Kim is keen to acquire advanced technology from Russia and gain battle experience for his troops. Kim Jong-un will also neatly pocket the monthly $2,200 salary of each North Korean soldier sent to die for Russia.
A screenshot of an image released by the Ukrainian drone warfare unit Magyar’s Birds. The unit said it shows the bodies of North Korean soldiers killed in the Kursk region. Part of the image has been blurred by RFA. (Magyar’s Birds)
Sources:
https://www.the-sun.com/sport/13108326/basketball-star-janis-timma-dead/
https://www.the-sun.com/news/13119788/ukraine-laser-gun-drones-trident/
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-updates-zelenskyy-wants-strong-trump-on-our-side/live-71103227
https://www.rfa.org/english/korea/2024/12/16/north-korea-ukraine-russia-casulaties/
https://www.rfa.org/english/korea/2024/12/17/north-korean-soldier-video-russia-12172024/
German Chancellor Scholz Loses No Confidence Vote Ahead of February Elections
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks on the day of a confidence vote called by him to pave way for snap election, at lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, 16 Dec 2024. Herr Scholz is no Frau Merkel. (Photo: © Liesa Johannssen / Reuters)
394 Bundestag deputies voted against Scholz while only 207 expressed confidence in the chancellor, with 116 abstentions.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can now move to dissolve the legislature and formally declare the agreed 23 Feb 2025 election date.
Friedrich Merz – the top candidate of the conservative CDU-CSU opposition alliance of ex-chancellor Angela Merkel – is well ahead in opinion polls.
The political contest comes at a time when Europe’s top economy is struggling to revive its stuttering export-led industrial sector amid high energy prices and tough competition from China. Berlin also faces major geopolitical challenges as it confronts Russia over the Ukraine war and as Donald Trump’s looming return to the White House heightens uncertainty over NATO and trade ties.
Germany’s political turmoil comes as France has also been roiled by crisis and gridlock which saw President Emmanuel Macron asking centrist politician François Bayrou to try to form a new government.
German politics in the post-war era was long staid, stable and dominated by the two parties, the CDU-CSU and the SPD, with the small FDP often playing kingmaker.
The Greens emerged in the 1980s, but the political landscape has been further fragmented over the past decade by the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a shock for a country whose dark World War II history had long made far-right parties taboo.
Formed as a Eurosceptic fringe party, the AfD grew into a major political force when it protested against Merkel’s open-door policy to migrants, and now has around 18 percent voter support.
(Map: Courtesy of BBC)
While other parties have committed to a “firewall” of non-cooperation with the AfD, some of them have borrowed from its anti-immigration and anti-Islam rhetoric. Following the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, some CDU lawmakers were quick to demand that the around one million Syrian refugees in Germany return to their home country.
The winter election is all the more heated as it comes at a time “the German model is in crisis,” said Berlin-based political scientist Claire Demesmay of Sciences Po Paris.
According to Demesmay, Germany’s prosperity “was built on cheap energy imported from Russia, on a security policy outsourced to the USA, and on exports and subcontracting to China.”
NATO members Germany, France, and Canada are experiencing political unrest and doubts for the future which is music to the Kremlin’s ears as Vladimir Putin wants to undermine America, NATO, and the EU. In no surprising move, Elon Musk posted the following message:
“Only the AfD can save Germany.”
AfD Neo-Nazis Spent Election Day at Mar a Lago. The tall man on the left is a reputed porn star. (Image: Social media)
Source:
German Chancellor Scholz loses no confidence vote ahead of February elections
Twelve People Found Dead Inside Restaurant at Popular Ski Resort
Twelve people were found dead inside an Indian restaurant at a popular ski resort in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, apparently all employees.
The Mtskheta-Mtianeti Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Georgia said that the bodies were discovered in Gudauri — a popular and well-known ski resort near the Russian border located approximately 75 miles north of the country’s capital city of Tbilisi.
Gudauri ski resort in Georgia on 17 May 2019. (Photo: Reinhard Kaufhold / Picture-Alliance /DPA /AP)
“In the resting area on the second floor of the Indian restaurant located in Gudauri, the bodies of 12 people employed in the same facility were found,” Georgian officials said in a statement. “At the initial inspection, no signs of body injuries or signs of violence were detected.”
However, according to a preliminary investigation, authorities discovered that a power generator had been placed in a closed space within an indoor area of the resort near some bedrooms. An investigation under Article 116 of the Criminal Code of Georgia has been launched, suggesting that the deaths were due to negligent manslaughter.
The investigation into the deaths is ongoing. But prima facie, this mass manslaughter seems to be unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning.
Source:
12 people found dead inside restaurant at popular ski resort – ABC News
Democratic Republic of Congo: Mystery Illness Could Be Severe Malaria
The DRC has a population of 115,403,027; 75% of them live under the poverty line. (Map: CIA)
Health officials are narrowing in on the cause of dozens of unexplained deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that a severe form of malaria is likely responsible.
The illness was considered a mystery for weeks. It has killed at least 37 people and sickened 592. Local authorities previously told Reuters that the death toll exceeded 140.
Health officials in Africa have been referring to the illness as “Disease X” while awaiting test results.
Concurrent health issues among the population, such malnutrition and known viral infections, could exacerbate the illnesses.
Millions of displaced people live in places like Bulengo IDP Camp. (Photo: Concern Worldwide)
An Anopheles stephensi mosquito feeding on a human host. (Photo: alchetron)
Mosquitos are man’s greatest acme predator. Mosquito-borne diseases kill more than one million people and infect up to 700 million each year – almost one in ten people. As the planet warms and climate change lengthens the mosquito season, the world’s deadliest creature will expand its geographical range to new regions and re-emerge in areas where mosquito numbers had subsided for decades.
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/congo-disease-outbreak-severe-malaria-rcna183299
https://www.cdc.gov/global-health/impact/fighting-the-worlds-deadliest-animal.html
NYC Resident Pleads Guilty to Operating Secret Police Station of Chinese Government in Lower Manhattan
Chen Jinping is smiling now but five years in an FCI may slap that grin off his face. (Photo: FBI)
Chen Jinping (60) of New York, NY, pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in connection with opening and operating an undeclared overseas police station, located in downtown Manhattan, for the PRC’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
Chen Jinping and co-defendant “Harry” Lu Jianwang conspired to act as illegal agents of the PRC government and also obstructed justice by destroying evidence of their communications with an MPS official. While acting under the direction and control of the MPS official, the defendants worked together to establish the first known overseas police station in the US on behalf of the Fuzhou branch of the MPS. The police station — which closed in the fall of 2022 — occupied an entire floor in an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
The clandestine police station was situated on the third floor of the Changle Association of America on East Broadway in Chinatown.
Lu and Chen helped open and operate the clandestine police station. None of the participants in the scheme informed the US government that they were helping the PRC government surreptitiously open and operate an undeclared MPS police station on US soil.
China may have more illegal police stations operating in the US. (Map courtesy of the UK Daily Mail.)
The FBI has created a website for victims to report efforts by foreign governments to stalk, intimidate, or assault people in the US. If you believe that you are or have been a victim of transnational repression, please visit:
https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/counterintelligence/transnational-repression.
Chen faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Per Chen’s plea agreement, the government has agreed to dismiss the obstruction of justice charge against him. Lu has pleaded not guilty to both of the charges against him and is awaiting trial.
One Police Plaza and 26 Federal Plaza are sneezing distance away from this ex-Chinese spy post. This was both remarkable and brazen of China. Apparently Canada is also coming to grips with the same problem of clandestine illegal Chinese government police stations.
No doubt the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) will uncover these illegal and nefarious Chinese mouchards,
Sources:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11988889/China-six-illegal-police-stations-US.html
China: Food Poisoning Afflicts 15 Tourists from Hong Kong
15 individuals from Hong Kong were affected by food poisoning after returning from a group tour in Guangdong, China. The incident has raised alarms about food safety and hygiene, prompting health officials to remind the public of the importance of maintaining personal and environmental hygiene, especially when travelling abroad.
The affected group, comprising five males and ten females aged between 57 and 94, began experiencing symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, and fever after dining at two restaurants in Zhanjiang. Fourteen of the individuals sought medical treatment either while on the Mainland or after returning to Hong Kong. Among them, one person required hospitalization but has since been discharged following treatment.
The group consumed a variety of seafood dishes, including oysters, abalone, shrimp, sea cucumber, and fish. Preliminary assessments suggest that the food poisoning may have been caused by norovirus or Vibrio parahaemolyticus, both of which are known to be associated with seafood consumption and can lead to severe gastrointestinal symptoms.
In response to the outbreak, the CHP has reached out to Mainland health authorities, sharing the details of the cases to facilitate further investigations. They are also appealing to other participants from the three-day tour organized by E King Travel (International) Limited to come forward for follow-up and medical surveillance.
Health officials are urging anyone who experiences symptoms related to foodborne illness—such as fever, gastrointestinal distress, or general malaise—to seek immediate medical attention.
Source:
Fifteen tourists affected in Hong Kong food poisoning cluster linked to Guangdong trip
Tiger Has Been Chained Up Her Whole Life
Meet Susu from Thailand:
If Susu could purr, she would. Thank you kind tiger rescue folks in SE Asia.
Coriolanus 