A victim is carried on a stretcher outside American University of Beirut Medical Center as people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded and killed when pagers exploded across Lebanon on 17 Sep 2024.
At least nine people were killed and more than 2,800 others wounded, overwhelming Lebanon’s hospitals, when pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded Tuesday. No one has claimed responsibility for this terrorist attack, but the people of Lebanon are blaming Israel. Many of the injuries were described as gruesome and some victims lost their eyes.
Lebanese press reports said the pagers were relatively new and were part of an order of 5,000 given to Hezbollah operatives in the past few months. They had been using pagers to communicate as Israeli intelligence is able to track and record cellphones.
Hsu Ching-Kuang, founder of Taiwan-based manufacturer Gold Apollo, told reporters Wednesday his company did not manufacture the pagers, but rather authorized its brand to be used on devices produced and sold by a company called BAC in Budapest. Two or three ounces of explosives were secreted into each device which exploded simultaneously across Lebanon at approximately 3:30PM.
Iran state media reported the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those wounded by an exploding pager. Lebanon’s Hezbollah issued a statement Tuesday blaming the blasts on Israel, which has not officially commented. At least two Hezbollah members were reported dead as well as a child.
The Lebanese government condemned the attack as “criminal Israeli aggression.” Beirut is a recipient of US military assistance and its security services may request forensic assistance from Washington to determine the culprits of this attack. Lebanon also enjoys close economic and political ties with France whom they can also ask for investigative help.
If Israeli intelligence was responsible, this was a monumental counterintelligence and political blow against Lebanese Hezbollah, which also served to demonstrate Israel’s espionage capabilities. And this was also an innovative method of conducting Extra-Judicial Killings (XJK) across international borders which Israeli can deny perpetrating. If ISIS, al-Qaida, the FARC, or the IRA conducted this attack, the world would condemn it as terrorism.
Lebanese Hezbollah said it would continue its fight against Israel in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and that Israel should await “harsh punishment.”
US forces in Iraq should be prepared for reprisal attacks from Iran’s Shia proxies. Western commercial ships in the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden may see attacks from the Shia Houthis, who have become allies with Tehran and Lebanese Hezbollah. After the Sunni Saudi blockade created a catastrophic famine for Shia Yemenis, the Houthis accepted Iran’s aid and have since become proxies for Tehran.
Sources:
Pagers rigged with explosives kill 9, wound 2,800 in Lebanon (voanews.com)
BBC NEWS | Middle East | French nearly fired at Israelis
Russia Claims to Kill ‘Ukrainian Agent’ Plotting Assassination of Defense Executive
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that its agents killed a suspected Ukrainian military intelligence officer allegedly plotting to assassinate a Russian defense industry executive.
The FSB identified the man as a Russian citizen born in 1984, accusing him of illegal trafficking explosives and claiming he was working on behalf of Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency.
According to Russian law enforcement authorities, the man was instructed by “his handlers” to create an improvised explosive device (IED), which was to be used as a car bomb targeting a defense executive in the Sverdlovsk region, a major hub for Russian defense manufacturing.
FSB agents reportedly killed the man during a gunfight as he attempted to place the IED in a cache. “While being apprehended, he offered armed resistance and was neutralized by return fire,” the FSB said in a statement.
Footage released by state news agencies showed the body of a man in a wooded area holding a handgun, along with images of what the FSB claimed were the explosive device components found in a garage.
The FSB did not identify the alleged target of the assassination plot, describing him only as a “senior employee of a defense company.”
There was no immediate response from Kiev about Russia’s allegations.
IEDs have killed high-value target (HVT) Russians during the war. The daughter of ultra-nationalist Putin-ally Alexander Dugin was killed in a bomb attack in August 2022 and in May 2023, pro-war blogger Zakhar Prilepin was seriously injured in an attack.
Sources:
Russia Claims to Kill ‘Ukrainian Agent’ Plotting Assassination of Defense Executive
Russian military intelligence officer injured in Moscow car bomb attack, Kommersant says | Reuters‘
Impeachment Proceedings Against France’s Macron Pass First Hurdle
The pomp and spectacle of the Paris Olympiad are over as reality returns for President Macron in this undated image. (AP – Thomas Padilla)
The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) has accused President Macron of denying democracy in refusing to name a prime minister from one of their ranks. The procedure to impeach him got over the first hurdle on Tuesday but it’s highly unlikely the president will fall. LFI has accused Macron of carrying out an “anti-democratic coup” after he ruled out choosing its pick for prime minister, naming veteran conservative politician Michel Barnier instead.
A petition, signed by more than 300,000 people, refers to Macron’s “unprecedented authoritarian drift … in the system of representative democracy.”
Impeachment proceedings have never gone this far before. Ten years ago, a proposal tabled by the right against then Socialist president François Hollande didn’t get beyond the committee stage.However, there is little chance of Macron being forced to step down. Under Article 68 of the Constitution, the motion now has to be examined by the assembly’s Law Committee, before being put to a wider vote by MPs. The text must be approved by two-thirds of MPs – 385 out of 577.
Mathematically that’s highly unlikely as Macron can count on his centrist Ensemble (Together) coalition and the mainstream right Republicans to vote against.
Outgoing prime minister Gabriel Attal has described the motion as “a declaration of war on our institutions.” The far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies – with 143 MPs – will not vote in favour either. RN leader Marine Le Pen has termed the motion a “sinister comedy” and accused the left of spreading “disorder and chaos.” The Socialists have also announced they will not vote to impeach Macron.
Should it pass the MP hurdle, it will then go to the Senate, where Ensemble and the Republicans hold a majority.
Tuesday’s vote is, however, a strong symbolic victory for the leftist alliance.
“It’s an opportunity to put Emmanuel Macron’s early departure on the public agenda,” said LFI MP Clemence Guetté, while fellow MP Antoine Léaument hailed a “parliamentary riposte”.
The New Popular Front (NFP) has called for nationwide demonstrations on Saturday “to depose Macron”.
Source:
Impeachment proceedings against France’s Macron pass first hurdle (rfi.fr)
Canada: Justin Trudeau Under Pressure as Liberal Party Loses Montreal By-Election
Louis-Philippe Sauvé celebrated with his Bloc Québécois supporters after his win in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun. Photograph: Canadian Press/REX/Shutterstock
Canada’s ruling Liberal party has lost a once-safe seat in Montreal, a result that is likely to put more pressure on the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to quit.
Elections Canada said that with 100% of the votes counted in the parliamentary constituency of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, the separatist Bloc Québécois candidate, Louis-Philippe Sauvé, had beaten the Liberal candidate, Laura Palestini, by a whisker: 28% to 27.2%. The New Democratic party (NDP) candidate received 26.1%.
The election, which was held to replace a Liberal legislator who resigned, will put more focus on the political future of Trudeau, who has become increasingly unpopular after almost nine years in office.
Trudeau insists he will lead the party into an election that must be held by the end of October 2025, but some Liberal legislators have broken ranks to call for change at the top.
Alexandra Mendès, a Liberal MP who represents a Québec constituency, said last week that many of her constituents wanted Trudeau to go.
In the 2021 general election, the Liberal party won the Montreal seat with 43% of the vote, ahead of the Bloc Québécois on 22% and the NDP on 19%.
Polls now suggest that the Liberals will lose badly in the next federal election to the right-of-centre Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre. A Leger poll last week put public support for the Conservatives at 45%, a level rarely seen nationally in Canada, with the Liberals in second place at 25%.
Trudeau’s popularity has sagged as voters struggle with a surge in the cost of living and a housing crisis.
Poilievre has promised to do away with a federal carbon tax that he claims is making life unaffordable and last week vowed to cap immigration limits until more homes could be built.
Liberals concede the polls look grim but say they will redouble efforts to portray Poilievre as a supporter of the “Make America Great Again” movement led by the former US president Donald Trump.
Poilievre, an acerbic career politician who often insults his opponents, also says he would defund the CBC, Canada’s national public broadcaster. In April he was ejected from the House of Commons after he called Trudeau “a wacko”.
Source:
Justin Trudeau under pressure as his party loses Montreal election | Canada | The Guardian
Portugal Wildfire Deaths Rise to Seven After Firefighters Trapped in Blaze
A woman next to her home in Covelo, Gondomar, northern Portugal. Photograph: José Coelho/EPA
Seven people have been killed and more than 50 injured in wildfires ravaging central and northern Portugal after three firefighters died when their vehicle was trapped in flames.
Portugal’s civil protection service said 54 wildfires were burning nationwide, mainly in the north, with 5,300 firefighters mobilised. France, Greece, Italy, and Spain sent eight water-bombing planes through the EU’s mutual assistance mechanism.
More than 1,000 firefighters battled to control four separate blazes near the towns of Nelas and Aveiro, south of Porto, with TV footage showing residents frantically pouring buckets of water on rapidly advancing flames. In Aveiro alone, the blazes have consumed more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and scrubland in the last two days, roughly the same area that has been burnt by fires so far this year across the country.
The national civil protection commander said the three firefighters – two women and a man – had been killed near Nelas. Four people, including a man retrieving tools from his shed, were reported dead.
Three firefighters died in Nelas, southeast of Porto, on Tuesday. Photograph: Pedro Nunes/Reuters
The fires forced the closure of two railway lines and several motorways, including part of the main road between Lisbon and Porto and could consume a further 20,000 hectares.
The weather conditions on Monday brought the highest risk of fire in northern Portugal since 2001, experts said. After a wet start to the year Portugal and Spain have recorded fewer wildfires than last year, but temperatures were above 30C across Portugal over the weekend amid exceptionally low humidity and strong winds, which have fanned the flames.
The government increased fire-prevention funding ten-fold and doubled its firefighting budget after deadly blazes in 2017 claimed 64 lives.
Scientists have said human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather across the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters, from floods – as seen this week in central Europe – to heatwaves, droughts and wildfires.
Human-caused climate breakdown is making heatwaves more likely and more intense, such as the extreme heatwave in western Canada and the US in 2021.
Source:
Portugal wildfire deaths rise to seven after firefighters trapped in blaze | Portugal | The Guardian
UK MoD: Russia Suffered Over 610,000 Casualties in Ukraine
(Undated photo: Vladimir Smirnov / TASS)
Russia has likely suffered over 610,000 causalities, killed or wounded, since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, according to the UK Defence Ministry’s latest intelligence update.
Russian officials said that in 2023, the defence ministry was recruiting at a rate of 1,600 daily. However, publicly cited figures this year put the rate at around 1,000 daily.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, claims that the total number of Ukrainian and Russian servicemen killed or wounded since the start of Russian aggression has reached one million.
The WSJ, citing confidential data dating back to earlier this year from sources familiar with the matter, wrote that “the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed stands at 80,000 and the number of wounded at 400,000.”
“Western intelligence estimates of Russian casualties vary, with some putting the number of dead as high as nearly 200,000 and wounded at around 400,000,” the newspaper reported.
The Financial Times, citing a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official, reports that Russian forces have committed 38,000 personnel to fight in Kursk region, including assault brigades redeployed from southern Ukraine.
Russian forces recently recaptured territory in the Ukrainian salient, advancing northern Obukhovka, southeast of Korenevo.
Ukrainian and Russian forces continued to advance in Glushkovsky district amid continued fighting in the area.
Russian troops march during the Victory Day military parade in Red Square in Moscow, 9 May 2024. Photo: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters. President Putin recently ordered to boost the size of the army by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million
Source:
Russia has likely suffered over 610,000 causalities in Ukraine, says UK MoD | Euronews
Washington State Man Sentenced on Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During 6 Jan Capitol Attack
Benjamin John Silva (37) of Yacolt, WA, was sentenced to four months in prison, 24 months of supervised release to include four months of home incarceration, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Silva pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder on 5 Apr 2024.
Silva was identified on 6 Jan 2021, at approximately 2:49 p.m., near an entrance to the Capitol building on the Lower West Terrace, often referred to as the Tunnel. Some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement on January 6th occurred at the Tunnel. Inside the Tunnel, Silva made his way to the front of a crowd of rioters confronting an established police line.
During the melee, Silva distracted a police officer while a seditionist behind him sprayed the line of officers with a chemical irritant. When police lines held, some attackers began leaving the Tunnel. But Silva fought to stay in and to pressed forward in a concerted effort with other rioters doing the same. Defeated, Silva made his way out of the Tunnel at about 3:07 PM but remained in the area outside the Tunnel for several minutes afterward.
The FBI arrested Silva on 25 July 2023, in Oregon.
In the 44 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,504 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 560 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
US Military Aid Packages to Ukraine Shrink Amid Concerns Over Pentagon Stockpiles
Photo: USAF
US military aid packages for Ukraine have been smaller in recent months, as the stockpiles of weapons and equipment that the Pentagon is willing to send Kiev from its own inventory have dwindled. The shift comes amid concerns about US military readiness being impacted as US arms manufacturers play catchup to the huge demand created by the war against Russia.
The shortage means the Biden administration still has $6 billion in funds available to arm and equip Ukraine, but the Pentagon lacks the inventory it is willing to deliver.
The US is ramping up production of key items, such as 155 mm ammunition and Patriot missile systems, both to supply Ukraine and to refill US inventories. But it is a yearslong process that won’t quickly meet the surging demand.
Before the war in Ukraine, the US produced approximately 15,000 155 mm artillery shells each month. With new factories and production lines opening, the US is now producing 40,000 shells a month. But it will still take more than a year for the Pentagon to hit its goal of 100,000 shells each month.
Ukraine is feeling the impact of the inventory shortages, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. During a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany this month, Zelensky told the US and other allies that deliveries of promised air defense systems were moving too slowly and warned of a “significant” shortfall in vital aid.
The US is still trying to announce a new aid package roughly every two weeks which Ukraine is “supportive of because they believe getting new packages every two weeks is a morale boost.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has vowed to continue providing military support to Ukraine and announced a new $250 million aid package at the meeting in Germany this month. Austin acknowledged that the US is working to ramp up production and “speed up deliveries” to Ukraine.
“Time is of the essence, especially with winter on its way,” Austin said. “And we must all step up our support — and quickly.”
The US is simultaneously sending military aid to Israel. And as noted in a previous post, North Korea and Iran are assisting Russia with their supply shortfalls during this 2 ½ year war.
Source:
US military aid packages to Ukraine shrink amid concerns over Pentagon stockpiles | CNN Politics
The Lancet: Superbug Crisis Could Get Worse, Killing Nearly 40 Million People by 2050
This illustration of a bacteriophage shows its tripod-like form that mimics a tiny robot. These microscopic creatures have saved the lives of patients dying from superbug infections and are being used in clinical trials as a potential solution to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. In the US alone, more than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur each year. SCIEPRO/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
Cumulatively, from 2025 to 2050, the world could see more than 39 million deaths that are directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance or AMR, according to the Lancet.
Antimicrobial resistance happens when pathogens like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to evade the medications used to kill them.
The World Health Organization has called AMR “one of the top global public health and development threats,” driven by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobial medications in humans, animals and plants, which can help pathogens develop a resistance to them.
The new study reveals that when it comes to the prevalence of AMR and its effects, “we expect it to get worse,” said lead author Dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
“We need appropriate attention on new antibiotics and antibiotic stewardship so that we can address what is really quite a large problem,” he said.
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Birth of Spectacled Bear Brings Joy to Farming Community in Peru
A spectacled bear was born in a rescue center built by a Peruvian farming community that has protected these animals for more than two decades.
The bear cub, which does not yet have a name, was discovered after park rangers in the community of Santa Catalina de Chongoyape, in northern Peru, noticed that a female bear named Lola did not leave.
Born in mid July, the little bear is the second birth after a female was born six years ago in a fenced area of several hectares where food and care are provided to ailing bears.
The farming community manages an ecological reserve where spectacled bears (Tremarctos ornatus) and other animals such as the white-winged guan (Penelope albipennis) are not hunted and can find a safe habitat for their lives in its carob trees and other types of flora.
The spectacled bear is a vulnerable species, according to the Red List of Threatened Species released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are the only bear species in South America with potentially as few as 2,500 mature individuals remaining.
Source:
The birth of a spectacled bear brings joy to a farming community in Peru | AP News
Coriolanus 