#The Rejected Casualties Network

[eretzyisrael]

by Melanie Phillips

But on June 4, the Famine Review Committee published a report in which it rejected the FEWS NET analysis as not “plausible” and said it could not endorse its famine projection.

The committee said there was a lack of reliable evidence about the number of trucks entering Gaza and the level of humanitarian assistance that was arriving and being distributed around its various areas.

In order to compensate for these gaps in the data, it said, FEWS NET had relied on “multiple layers of assumptions and inference” about food availability and access as well as nutritional status and mortality, and had made “deliberate choices over assumptions, without the necessary supporting evidence”.

Such assumptions, said the committee, had ignored or underestimated the value of both commercial sources of food and certain forms of humanitarian aid.

Although this didn’t alter the fact that Gaza was experiencing “extreme human suffering” and that urgent measures were needed to boost humanitarian supplies, the committee concluded that flows of aid and the availability of food had increased significantly in March and April and “that nearly 100 percent of daily kilocalorie requirements were available for the estimated population of 300,000 people in April, even using conservative calculations”.

In other words, the committee reversed its own dire predictions and damned the famine early warning network for excluding evidence that gave the lie to its anti-Israel narrative. The categorical declarations of imminent famine being caused by wicked, heartless, war-criminal Israel just weren’t true.

It’s worth remembering that USAID, the parent body of FEWS NET, is run by Samantha Power, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations during the Obama administration.

In 2002, Power suggested in a “thought experiment” that America might have to invade Israel to prevent an Israeli genocide against the Palestinians. She also suggested that the only people who might be alienated by this would be American Jews, who she said exercised tremendous political and financial power over America.

Other research has also exploded the “Gaza famine” claims. At Columbia University, two professors have said the evidence shows that sufficient amounts of food are being supplied to Gaza.

They told The Jerusalem Post that it was “a myth that Israel is responsible for famine in Gaza” and suggested that the International Criminal Court and UN had joined Hamas in blaming Israel for a “famine that never was, hoping to stop the war”.

Yet there are no signs that these rebuttals of the “Gaza famine” claim are having any effect on the Israel-bashing crowd. A few days ago, The New York Times was still referring to “starving civilians” and blaming deaths from malnutrition on “restrictions on aid and commercial goods entering Gaza”.

BBC News reported this week that “warnings of famine are looming once again in northern Gaza,” broadcasting distressing footage of infants said to be suffering from dehydration and malnutrition caused by restrictions on aid at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings.

Other than Fox News, it seems that no mainstream media outlet has reported the Famine Review Committee’s findings that the claim of famine in Gaza cannot be justified. Nor have the anti-Israel humanitarian organisations, although the World Health Organisation’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has now subtly adjusted his rhetoric by talking about “famine-like conditions”.

Famine is not the only anti-Israel falsehood whose debunking has been ignored. The mainstream media and humanitarian crowd are still using the Hamas figure of 37,000-plus civilians killed in Gaza, despite the fact that the UN itself revised its own casualty totals sharply downwards after it emerged that some of the claimed deaths had been drawn from media sources and were fabricated.

Some outlets such as The New York Times, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Time magazine are still claiming that the International Court of Justice said the Palestinians in Gaza faced a “plausible risk of genocide” even though the court said no such thing. As the ICJ President Joan Donoghue herself said, the court decided “that the Palestinians had a plausible right to be protected from genocide. … It didn’t decide that the claim of genocide was plausible”.

[mariacallous]

The Middle East faces a moment of peril. Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel responded with a brutal campaign in Gaza, the region has been on edge. The longer the Gaza war rages, the more likely it is to set off a regional war. Following the assassination in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader, a potentially calamitous cycle of escalation looms as Iran and its allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and militias operating under the banner of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Syria, prepare to retaliate.

While the outlook is dire, recent history suggests a dangerous escalation cycle between the longtime adversaries can be contained. Nineteen dramatic days in April showed how it can be done. After an Israeli strike on an Iranian consular facility in Damascus killed several senior commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tehran launched an unprecedented and massive direct strike against Israel.

A degree of forewarning; the fact that Iran’s network of nonstate allies largely held their fire; and aerial defenses from Israel, together with the United States and other Western and some Arab countries, limited the damage, and Israel responded with a limited strike inside Iran.

But history may not repeat itself.

Worryingly, this time around, the public rhetoric from Iranian officials and what they are reportedly saying to diplomats suggests that a bigger and potentially more damaging retaliation is in the works, including coordinated attacks from Iranian allies. Iran’s leadership might fear an Israeli retaliation, but it appears to fear the impression of passivity even more.

It was deeply embarrassed by the Haniyeh assassination shortly after Iran’s new president was inaugurated in the heart of the capital. Iran’s national security establishment worries that anything less than a major retaliation could send the signal that it’s prepared to acquiesce to Israel killing Iranian officials and allied leaders. For its part, Israel has made clear that, should Iran attack, it will also up the pain in its counterstrike and might even take preemptive action.

In seeking to limit Iran’s retaliation for the Haniyeh assassination and Hezbollah’s response to the killing of one of its top commanders in Beirut the day before, the United States and its allies have been pushing a three-pronged crisis management strategy: seeking an immediate cease-fire in Gaza; sending additional defensive capabilities to Israel; and working through back channels to urge Iran to limit its fire.

Yet despite reported pressure from senior Israeli security officials and frustration in Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to reject the first plank—a Gaza truce—which would be critical to easing wider tensions in the region. As for the third plank, Iran seems intent on pushing forward with a large-scale offensive action.

If U.S. efforts to cap an escalatory cycle fail, the worst-case scenario could include an Iranian-led attack that causes significant casualties and damage in Israel, which could then prompt Israel to make good on its threats of an all-out assault on Lebanon that would leave much of the country in ruins, expand the battlefield in Yemen by striking the Houthis, and climb further up the escalatory ladder by attacking Iran’s command structure or key nodes in its nuclear program.

Such a move might lead Tehran to conclude that it has little left to lose. Attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, which have resumed after a relative lull, could expand and draw U.S. forces back into larger-scale active combat. At some point, the local hostilities, discreet targeted attacks, and exchanges of fire beyond Gaza that have pockmarked the Middle East since Oct. 7 would merge into something bigger and far more consequential: a full-scale regional war with potentially devastating effects on global trade and energy supplies, with high rates of civilian casualties.

This scenario is still avoidable. Even if the U.S. effort to contain hostilities is currently struggling, that effort is aided by the reality that neither Washington (eager to avoid a Middle East entanglement at the height of an election season) nor Tehran (which does not want to shoulder the costs of all-out war for less than what it sees as existential stakes) is looking for a protracted fight. Nor does Hezbollah (which stands to lose some of its substantial arsenal in a major confrontation) appear to want a full-scale war with Israel.

But for the logic of de-escalation to prevail, it may well need a boost. At the heart of the region’s tensions is Gaza. Washington has tried to manage these flare-ups through a variety of diplomatic tracks and ad hoc efforts, but it is clear that the region will continue to teeter on the edge of major conflict absent a Gaza cease-fire. The U.S. government has made clear that it wants this, but it has not yet played its strongest cards to get one.

It is past time to do so. Washington should throw its full weight behind a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza on the terms that it previously proposed and to which Israel previously agreed. Of course this can only work if Hamas continues to be on board after Haniyeh’s killing, and the latter’s replacement by Yahya Sinwar (the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attack), but the United States should actually test the proposition by genuinely pressing Israel.

To do so, Washington should make clear that it will withhold the provision of ammunition and weapons for non-defensive purposes to Israel if Netanyahu’s obstructionism remains an impediment to a deal. At the same time, it should look to those with channels to Hamas to convey that this may be their last chance for a near-term deal. It should also seek the United Nations Security Council’s unanimous support for a resolution that would create a binding commitment on all actors to support and comply with the cease-fire, going a step further than the council’s June cease-fire resolution on which Russia abstained.

If progress is made toward a cease-fire in Gaza, Washington could quietly encourage a parallel effort to de-escalate the hostilities that Iran’s Axis of Resistance partners have fomented around the region since Oct. 7, which could include an agreement by Hezbollah to pull its forces back in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted to end the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

Some of these partners have already intimated that they would stand down upon the reaching of a Gaza truce. The goal would be to add greater certainty to that commitment. As in April, an understanding might be reached through back-channel talks facilitated by Oman or through trusted intermediaries such as Qatar or Switzerland.

The biggest obstacle to moving in this direction may be U.S. domestic politics. Pushing Israel this hard would entail political costs for the Biden administration (including Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee) just days prior to the Democratic National Convention and in the run-up to the November presidential election.

But a spiraling regional war could be even more costly for a president who ran for office promising to end endless wars—a commitment that Republican leaders have made as well—and whose foreign-policy legacy may well be judged through the lens of how he dealt with this moment of danger to the Middle East and the world.

[honesty-my-policy]

some fresh resources (05/24/24)

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Hamas Terrorists Attack Kerem Shalom Aid Crossing for Fourth Time in MayEgyptian Blockade of Aid to Gaza Earns Rebuke from U.S.Terrorist Rockets Discovered Next to Gaza’s Border With Egypt Harrowing Footage Released of Female IDF Soldiers in Hamas Captivity FDD VISUALS IRAN-BACKED WEST BANK CHAOS IRAN AND ITS NETWORK OF NINETEEN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS ON ISRAEL’S BORDERS MAPPING TERRORISM IN THE WEST BANK

HonestReporting Why Won’t Media Give a Platform to Gazans Who Oppose Hamas? Campus Journalism Fueling the Next Generation of Anti-Israel Media Media Ignore Quietly-Revised UN Figures of Hamas-Reported Civilian Deaths Media Falsely Blame Israel for Rejecting Hamas’ Ceasefire “Proposal”

UNWatch UNRWA staff stealing and selling humanitarian aid, Gazans report ICRC Head of Office posts Hamas propaganda, says “f*** neutrality” in leaked Facebook postsUNRWA Attacks Those Who Warn Of Staff Support For TerrorismUN Watch Warned UNRWA About Staff Support for Terror Since 2015 NGO Monitor (really good stuff here) See No Evil: NGOs Turn Terrorists into Civilians in 2021 Gaza Conflict NGO Monitor research has identified 50 incidents in which Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives killed in Gaza were falsely labeled by NGOs as civilian casualties, or in which civilians killed by Hamas were implicitly attributed to Israel. (more if you scroll down) Excuse and Disregard: Palestinian NGOs on Teens’ Involvement in Terror Attacks and Violent Clashes Behind the ICC Prosecutor’s Narrative: The NGOs that Pushed the “Starvation” Libel in October The NGO Network Orchestrating Antisemitic Incitement on American Campuses EU-Supported Palestinian NGOs and the October 7th Hamas Massacre Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) MEMRI Executive Director Of 'American Muslims For Palestine' Osama Abuirshaid At George Washington University Encampment: We Will Take Back America, Just Like We Will Take Back Palestine; You Will Be The Past, We Will Be The Future Hizbullah-Affiliated Lebanese Academic Sadek Al-Naboulsi: Hitler Recruited Child Soldiers, So Why Shouldn't We? There Is Nothing Shameful About Raising Children On The Principle Of Sacrificing One's Life Mahmoud Habbash, Advisor To Palestinian President Abbas: Without A Solution To The Palestinian Issue, October 7 Will Be Repeated 100 Times; Hamas Derailed Us From The Path To Statehood Lebanese Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt: October 7 Was A Great Moment In The History Of The Arab-Israeli Conflict; Hizbullah Is Defending Lebanon Against Its Historic Enemy Fmr. President Of Jordanian Medical Association Dr. Tareq Tahboub: 90% Of The Content On TikTok Is Pro-Palestinian; Blonde, Tattooed European And American Girls Are Converting To Islam

[pocketramblr]

Dont know if the ask game is still open but if it is: AU where manual the normal hero unintentionally becomes the number 1 pro hero.

Look. Look, at the rate we're going? All the heroes dropping? Manual was #222 before the great quitting and then so many heroes dropping dead. I will be genuinely surprised if at this point in canon he's ranked any lower than top 50. This ask is just going to be canon by the time the arc is finally over and Manual is the highest ranking hero still left. BUT let's take the light hearted route and not the "everyone dies" route to get him that spot a lil earlier

1- So Manual just kinda keeps... Getting invited to parties? Somehow? So often when he's working with another hero or even just passing them on patrol, the topic of parties comes up, and no really wanted to invite him but then realized halfway through that he was there, and it would be awkward at that point to say "not you though" so he also gets an invite, and Manual doesn't really want to go to all of them, though some are quite nice, but he kinda feels like he has to. So he kinda just keeps showing up and more and more "high ranking" parties, and people keep assuming he's important since he's at so many, so he gets more invitations and accidentally networks himself higher.

2- The same happens with cases, and he keeps getting asked to way more than he signs up for, he really just meant to be more rescue and patrol focus, but he does have a knack for piecing together people's motives and actions, and he practices more with each case he gets invited to, and then suddenly it becomes "well, we can't assign this unimportant case to Endeavor but like... I saw Manual on a case meeting with Endeavor last month so maybe he can handle it?" And he works very hard and has little social life outside of heroics, so he can handle it, and so that part of his ranking goes up.

3- and with higher ranking and being seen more, he becomes more lucrative for sponsors- but Manual doesn't really want to be a mascot, so he only takes a very few select ones he actually cares about or thinks are too cool to turn down, so he's more exclusive, so more people want him, and now he's hired another person at the agency just to deal with sorting those and sending polite rejections.

4- this continues on until Tenya accepts an offer from Manual for an internship, trying to track down Stain. Hosu is attacked, but Manual is seen as a impromptu leader of sort of many other heroes they come across, calling directions for evacuation, putting out fires, and corralling Nomu. Tenya slips away, and Manual orders others to find him- just in time to see Tenya, Shoto, and Izuku beat up Stain. Manual and Endeavor both run to the scene at the same time, and later in the police, the Chief suggests they take credit for taking down Stain in order to say the kids had permission. Enji gets very upset at the suggestion that he take credit for something he didn't do as Shoto did have his permission- kinda- and doesn't care about the other two, but Manual quickly agrees, for their sake, and buries the guilt about lying because he knows this would not be an opportunity he got it he was a lower ranked hero.

With the news that Manual was responsible for taking in Stain, having organized the group that got him while minimizing casualties, he makes the top ten heroes.

5- in such a role, of course he's involved in Kamino- there's a lot of water in a nomu's body, and that's a sort of weakness that's much better for the Doctor to work around like great resistance or regeneration. With Jeanist injured, the commission decides to announce Endeavor as #1, Manual as #2, and Hawks still as #3. (Hawks is a useful tool to the commission, high up, at the same time, he can't be too high for their next plans for him.)

Manual gets to enjoy one week there, crying in his agency away from any windows because how did his life get so out of control, before someone drops a huge amount of information on Endeavor online, absolutely tanking his reputation. By the time the official billboard is announced, Manual knows he's going to be stuck as the number one hero. He's resigned to it, and blocks the hero commission president's phone number.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: William McGurn

Published: Oct 30, 2023

“I just want to remind the world, Palestinian mothers love their children just as much as any other mother in the world,” Jordan’s Queen Rania said on CNN last week. “For them to have to go through this is just unbelievable. And equally, I think that people all around the Middle East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world’s reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding. In the last couple of weeks we have seen, you know, a glaring double standard. . . . Are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family, at gunpoint, but it’s OK to shell them to death?”

Suddenly the talk of Israeli grandmothers and babies being butchered by Hamas has given way to reports of Palestinian children killed by the Israel Defense Forces. And so Queen Rania asks: Aren’t Palestinian lives as precious as Israeli ones?

Of course they are. But to focus on death counts alone—without looking to how and why people were killed—is to reduce this war to a grim PR battle of photos and numbers.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said this war has entered its second stage. He was talking about Israel, but it applies equally to Hamas. The barbarism of Oct. 7 was only the first stage of the Hamas war plan. The second stage was to force an Israeli response in Gaza that Hamas knew would mean the killing of innocent Palestinians—which boosts the terrorist group’s propaganda.

Whether the IDF is taking the right steps to minimize the loss of Palestinian civilian lives can be argued. But nothing Hamas does is to protect the Palestinian people. Look at how Hamas prevented Palestinians from leaving northern Gaza in accord with Israeli warnings.

Hamas has built a sophisticated tunnel network to protect its members from Israeli bombs and missiles. Has anyone seen a comparable network of shelters to safeguard the Palestinians Hamas claims to be fighting for? Hamas locates its ammunition caches and command centers in these tunnels beneath schools, hospitals and mosques, so that any Israeli fire necessarily will mean more civilian casualties.

The disturbing truth about Hamas’s second stage is this: Palestinian deaths are more useful to Hamas even than Israeli deaths.

Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and the author of “Just and Unjust Wars.” He is a self-described social democrat. He is no fan of Mr. Netanyahu.

In an article for the New Republic, Mr. Walzer makes clear that like Queen Rania, he holds Palestinian life precious—and he believes that the IDF has an obligation to act to protect Palestinians, even if it means greater risk for Israeli soldiers. But Mr. Walzer recognizes something Queen Rania doesn’t: “A just victory requires the defeat of Hamas.”

Mr. Walzer considers the creation of a viable Palestinian state part of a just victory. Agree with him or not—I believe Palestinians need the possibility of a decent life more than a state—he is saying that any just resolution requires the destruction of Hamas first.

This becomes easier to understand once the essence of a terrorist is recognized: a war criminal who rejects any limit, including deliberately targeting civilians. This differs from the IDF, which kills civilians as a consequence of its effort to get at Hamas. In just-war teaching this is known as double effect.

It’s a fine distinction that represents a fundamental moral divide. Tel Aviv University historian Martin Kramer, a fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, notes that the argument that there’s no difference between the killing of civilians by Hamas and those by the IDF has a precedent in the so-called Dresden defense.

This was the argument advanced by commanders of paramilitary Nazi death squads, who claimed that what they did up close and on the ground was no different morally from what Allied bombers did from thousands of feet in the air. The Nuremberg judges vehemently disagreed, pointing out that the actions differ “both in fact and in law.” The innocent people killed by Allied bombs were incidental to the military objective. To the Nazis, killing innocent people was the objective.

That’s what makes Hamas members war criminals. On Oct. 7, they executed a plan to target, attack and murder innocent Israelis. Now that they have the Israeli counterattack they counted on, they are trying to use the Palestinian dead to claim victimhood. It isn’t just Queen Rania, either: We hear the same argument at the United Nations, in Congress and on elite American college campuses.

Yes, Palestinian mothers love their children no less than anyone else. But with horrible images from Israel and Gaza now filling our TV screens, moral judgment begins with making the obvious distinctions, not erasing them.

[ Via: https://archive.vn/x6IW8 ]

[xxxjarchiexxx]

Tweet from Mondoweiss, reads:

Casualties – 7,760 Palestinians killed and 19,450 wounded in Gaza – 111 Palestinians killed and 1,950 wounded in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem – 1,405 Israelis killed and 5,445 wounded Key Developments – Israeli bombardments have nearly completely destroyed what was left of Gaza’s telecommunications network, plunging the Palestinian territory into a near-total communications blackout. – Simultaneously, Israel has ramped up its aerial and ground operations to unprecedented levels while making it nearly impossible to ascertain the scale of human and material damages at this time. – Meanwhile, the U.S. government has clearly stated that it will do nothing to stop the decimation of Gaza, with White House spokesperson John Kirby saying there were no “red lines” for Israel. – The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while the Security Council remains silent. – Violence is further ratcheting up elsewhere, with reports of at least one Palestinian killed in the occupied West Bank and rockets exchanged between Israel and Lebanon. – Humanitarian organizations and protesters around the world continue to express their horror at and rejection of the unfolding catastrophe.

[dead-twink-storage]

STALKER fan lore be like you need someone to conduct a deniable operations in Ukraine recovering super secret documents from the telekinetic rape lab located beneath the Pripyat urinal factory's septic tank that has a casualty rate of 100% and any way this traces back to NATO/Lockheed Martin/or whatever would cause a major international incident.

Option A: Piotor and Ivan random Loners who know the factory because they grew up in the area know how to deal with and talk to other factions and source all their gear inside the zone? REJECTED

Option B: Klaus the corrupt ex German spec ops commando and his band of assorted Eastern European henchmen who have raided secret labs before and have a network of reliable black market contacts and supplies stashed in the Zone? REJECTED

Option C: Payoff some Ukrainian officials into letting you set up a fake Ecologist research group so you can bring in a whole band of specialists and “guards”  and a never ending sea of equipment and supplies so you can investigate how best to enter this Lab? REJECTED

Option R for retarded: An entire SEAL team draped in American flag tattoos carrying only half a days worth of food and ammo who each are wearing 2 million dollars worth of kit that no one other than American special forces uses and then slap a giant edgy punisher skull patch with English text right on the front of their uniform and have them run around like this in a place filled with Russian sympathetic paramilitaries and Ukrainian government aligned personnel? APPROVED DO THIS AND ONLY THIS

[drnotreallystrange]

I just mean this genuinely out of curiousity even if I disagree with you about the issue, what do you think about the israel bombing rafah? What I mean is also endangering the children too. I don't know if I worded any of this correctly, I am sorry

OK since you are so curious and concerned about the poor children, here are a few points:

1) Israel announces clearly what they are attacking. They are not indiscriminately “bombing rafah” just for the fun of it. The casualties (assuming the numbers are correct) are rather low for such complex fighting in an urban environment. If it was not Israel, but (say) Russia or Assad in Syria, there would be many, many, many more dead “Palestinians”.

2) Hamas is hiding behind those children you care so much about. Hamas is still holding hostages, who have been suffering indescribably since October 7. I do not give a fuck about “Palestinians suffering�� as long as they still hold hostages and launch rockets towards Israel.

3) News from Gaza is controlled by Hamas. Pallywood propaganda is rampant, I do not believe a word these terrorist fuckers say, nor anything from networks like Al Jazeera, or tiktok idiots like Jackson Hinkle or other morons like him.

4) do you even know what Hamas and the “Palestinians” did on October 7? I lost my last bit of empathy with them that day. Fuck them. As long as they do not show any sign of being human and being willing to live in peace they can all go to hell. And I know that “it did not start on Oct 7″, they were terrorist assholes way before that. I know the history of the region pretty well. From the massacre of Hebron In 1929, to the many wars against Israel that were started by the arabs, to the terrorist attacks by Arafat “PLO” and PFLP in the 1970s and 1980s, to today, the arab “Palestinians” have been terrorist scum. They have rejected every single peace deal, because they still hope Israel will somehow go away, and that they will murder or expel all the jews in the region. But they will fail, as they have failed time and time again.

[qocsuing]

What’s Happening in the World’s Second-Most Populous Country

What’s Happening in the World’s Second-Most Populous Country China is a country that never ceases to amaze. With its rapid development, its diverse culture, and its influential role in the world, China is always making headlines. Here are some of the latest breaking news from China today:To get more china breaking news today, you can visit shine news official website.

A Record Low Turnout in Hong Kong’s Pro-Democracy Election

Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to China in 1997, held its first election since 2016 on Sunday. The election was supposed to be a chance for Hong Kongers to choose their representatives for the district council, which oversees local affairs. However, the election was marred by low voter turnout and boycotts by pro-democracy activists and lawmakers.

According to official results, only 34.8% of eligible voters cast their ballots, down from 76.5% in 2016. The pro-democracy camp won 40 out of 90 seats in the district council, while the pro-Beijing camp won 50 seats. The election was seen as a test of Hong Kong’s political divide and its future under China’s rule.

A Record Low Turnout in Taiwan’s Presidential Election

Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of its territory, held its presidential election on Tuesday. The election was supposed to be a chance for Taiwanese voters to choose their leader for the next five years. However, the election was marred by low voter turnout and boycotts by pro-independence parties and candidates.

According to official results, only 46.2% of eligible voters cast their ballots, down from 76.9% in 2016. The incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen won re-election with more than 57% of the votes, while her main rival Han Kuo-yu won with less than 43% of the votes. The election was seen as a test of Taiwan’s political identity and its future under China’s pressure.

A Record Low Turnout in Italy’s Referendum on Belt and Road Initiative

Italy, a member of the European Union that has been struggling with economic woes and political instability, held a referendum on Wednesday on whether to join or reject China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive infrastructure project that aims to connect Asia, Europe, Africa and beyond.

According to official results, only 38% of eligible voters cast their ballots against joining BRI, while 62% voted in favor of joining BRI. The referendum was seen as a symbolic gesture by Prime Minister Mario Draghi to appease his anti-China critics and boost his popularity ahead of national elections next year.

A Record Low Turnout in Sichuan Province After Earthquake

Sichuan province in southwest China suffered a devastating earthquake on Monday that killed more than 45 people and injured hundreds more. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.8 and struck near Chengdu city, which is home to about 21 million people.

The earthquake triggered landslides and damaged buildings in Chengdu city and surrounding areas. Many residents were trapped under rubble or feared aftershocks. The earthquake also disrupted transportation and communication networks in Sichuan province.

The Chinese government mobilized rescue teams and relief supplies to help the affected areas. President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences and ordered all-out efforts to save lives and prevent further casualties.

[summarychannel]

Israel begins a new phase in the war after military failure, and America decides to sacrifice the criminal

Updates on the Al-Aqsa Flood operation presented in this episode of Samri Channel. Starting with the American Wall Street Journal, which indicated the existence of tension between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, due to their disagreement over the course of the aggression on Gaza, which has so far led to the martyrdom of 13,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children. The American newspaper said, "Biden and Netanyahu's talks have become more tense as Netanyahu continues to reject longer truce periods" in Gaza. The newspaper quoted American officials as saying that they were concerned about the number of Palestinian casualties and Israel's final plans for Gaza. According to these officials, the Biden administration is struggling to persuade Netanyahu to prevent escalation as the images coming from Gaza grow in momentum. According to the newspaper's sources, the Biden administration is concerned about the potential domestic repercussions of full support for Israel. The sources added that Washington expressed its frustration to the Israeli government regarding the number of civilian deaths in Gaza. In a related context, Biden directed his senior aides to prepare sanctions against Israeli settlers who use violence in the occupied West Bank. Biden directed the preparation of a ban on issuing visas and imposing sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers who attack and displace Palestinians in the West Bank, according to an internal document whose contents were reported to the American newspaper Politico. The government memo orders senior aides such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen "to develop policy options to take swift action against those responsible for violent behavior in the West Bank." In the same context, the popularity of US President Joe Biden declined to its lowest levels during his presidency by 40%, in light of a large majority of voters rejecting his administration’s approach to foreign policy and the war launched by Israel against the Gaza Strip, according to an opinion poll whose results were published by NBC. American News, Sunday. According to the poll, for the first time, Biden lags behind his predecessor, Donald Trump, in the potential race for the White House, and the decline was more pronounced among Democrats, most of whom believe that Israel has exceeded the limits in its military operations in the Gaza Strip, and among voters between the ages of 18 and 34 years. 70% of them rejected the way the US President dealt with the ongoing war, according to the network. The network quoted Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the poll in cooperation with Republican pollster Bill McInturff at Public Opinion Strategies, as saying that “Biden’s popularity is at its lowest levels during his presidency, and this "It is largely due to the way Americans view his foreign policy actions." While McInturff considered that "the poll is shocking, because of what it shows the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas on Biden." But Horwitt predicted that the US President could bring dissatisfied Democrats and young voters back to his side again, saying: “These people have a proven track record of voting for Biden and the Democrats.” He pointed out that there is plenty of time, and more potential political surprises in the future between now and Election Day in 2024, which may witness the political landscape shifting again. He continued: "The jury verdicts in Trump's trials, unexpected events, both foreign and domestic, and the details of the election campaign, all have the potential to change the status quo." According to the poll, 40% of registered voters approve of Biden's job performance, while 57% oppose him, which represents the lowest level of support for the US president ever, as well as the highest level of opposition ever, since he became president. Although this percentage represents a slight change from last September, when Biden’s support rate reached 41%, what stands out in the new poll is the shift among voters between the ages of 18 and 34 years. In a September poll, 46% of these voters said they approved of the president's job performance, but his approval rating has now dropped to 31% among this group. In another decline for the US President, only 33% of all voters approved of Biden’s handling of foreign policy, which represents a decrease of 8 points from the September poll, while 62% of voters, including 30% of Democrats, expressed their rejection of Biden’s handling of foreign policy. Biden supports foreign policy, and only 34% of total voters approved of the way the US President dealt with the war between Israel and Hamas, compared to 56% who said they did not agree with that. Only half of Democratic voters (51%) say they approve of Biden's handling of the war, compared to a majority of independents (59%) and Republicans (69%) who say they disapprove of it. #Egypt #Palestine #Gaza

[danni-phantom]

Make a Cushion Cover from an Orphan Block Story

Make a Cushion Cover from an Orphan Block Story

Content More Icons from Cryptocurrency Mining Icon Pack Best Bitcoin Miners for Mining Bitcoin in 2022 Polygon launches Nightfall to provide enterprise solutions via ZKP tech Orphan Block Quilts Vintage 1920’s 1930’s Quilt Blocks Assorted Print Fabric Style Sewing Crafts Are you exited to learn the technical terms and the details of Blockchain Technology? That’s why at Coin Guides we’ve a section called knowledge base. Do check them out and follow us on Twitter to learn more about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. The minister believes that as power becomes scarcer in Sweden, the country may have to make difficult choices, and BTC miners could be among the casualties. For example, it may depend on how fast blocks are being processed or how fast nodes exchange data with one another. Now, since the release of what is known as the Bitcoin Core v.0.10 in early 2015, Bitcoin orphaned blocks are an impossibility. If I understand it right, a stale block is a block for which an earlier confirmation has been found and was accepted by majority of people. Refers to a block that has been created but was not accepted by the network to be added to the main blockchain. More Icons from Cryptocurrency Mining Icon Pack The time delay in propagating and accepting a block leads to Bitcoin SV nodes encountering scenarios where they need to select which of multiple blocks to accept as the most legitimate to include next in the chain. After a block is selected by the network, the other block is considered an orphaned block. Transactions in the orphaned block that were not included in the successful block, are re-included into the mempool as membership candidates for future blocks. In most cases the vast majority of transactions will be included in both, as propagation of transactions across the network is very efficient and both Miners are likely to have seen the same set. The release of Bitcoin Core v.0.10 made it impossible to create these kind of orphan blocks. This upgrade implemented headers-first synchronization, giving miners the ability to download the header to determine if a block was valid, which meant they could no longer receive any blocks whose parent was unknown. The first time a node is started, it only has a single block in its local best block chain—the hardcoded genesis block . The node chooses a remote peer, which we’ll call the sync node, and sends it the “getheaders” message illustrated below. Upon receipt of the “getblocks” message, the sync node takes the first header hash and searches its local best block chain for a block with that header hash. como que a vai superar assim — agatha (@effectagatha) July 23, 2022 They will remain as detached blocks in the cryptocurrency network. The network nodes are required to decide which block will get integrated into the blockchain by the Proof Of Work consensus mechanism. The rejected block is an orphan block because it was separated from the parent block. Any valid transactions contained in … Leggi tutto

https://online-wine-shop.com/make-a-cushion-cover-from-an-orphan-block-story/

[laughing-at-nothing]

Make a Cushion Cover from an Orphan Block Story

Make a Cushion Cover from an Orphan Block Story

Content More Icons from Cryptocurrency Mining Icon Pack Best Bitcoin Miners for Mining Bitcoin in 2022 Polygon launches Nightfall to provide enterprise solutions via ZKP tech Orphan Block Quilts Vintage 1920’s 1930’s Quilt Blocks Assorted Print Fabric Style Sewing Crafts Are you exited to learn the technical terms and the details of Blockchain Technology? That’s why at Coin Guides we’ve a section called knowledge base. Do check them out and follow us on Twitter to learn more about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. The minister believes that as power becomes scarcer in Sweden, the country may have to make difficult choices, and BTC miners could be among the casualties. For example, it may depend on how fast blocks are being processed or how fast nodes exchange data with one another. Now, since the release of what is known as the Bitcoin Core v.0.10 in early 2015, Bitcoin orphaned blocks are an impossibility. If I understand it right, a stale block is a block for which an earlier confirmation has been found and was accepted by majority of people. Refers to a block that has been created but was not accepted by the network to be added to the main blockchain. More Icons from Cryptocurrency Mining Icon Pack The time delay in propagating and accepting a block leads to Bitcoin SV nodes encountering scenarios where they need to select which of multiple blocks to accept as the most legitimate to include next in the chain. After a block is selected by the network, the other block is considered an orphaned block. Transactions in the orphaned block that were not included in the successful block, are re-included into the mempool as membership candidates for future blocks. In most cases the vast majority of transactions will be included in both, as propagation of transactions across the network is very efficient and both Miners are likely to have seen the same set. The release of Bitcoin Core v.0.10 made it impossible to create these kind of orphan blocks. This upgrade implemented headers-first synchronization, giving miners the ability to download the header to determine if a block was valid, which meant they could no longer receive any blocks whose parent was unknown. The first time a node is started, it only has a single block in its local best block chain—the hardcoded genesis block . The node chooses a remote peer, which we’ll call the sync node, and sends it the “getheaders” message illustrated below. Upon receipt of the “getblocks” message, the sync node takes the first header hash and searches its local best block chain for a block with that header hash. como que a vai superar assim — agatha (@effectagatha) July 23, 2022 They will remain as detached blocks in the cryptocurrency network. The network nodes are required to decide which block will get integrated into the blockchain by the Proof Of Work consensus mechanism. The rejected block is an orphan block because it was separated from the parent block. Any valid transactions contained in … Leggi tutto

https://online-wine-shop.com/make-a-cushion-cover-from-an-orphan-block-story/

[mimwashere]

Make a Cushion Cover from an Orphan Block Story

Make a Cushion Cover from an Orphan Block Story

Content More Icons from Cryptocurrency Mining Icon Pack Best Bitcoin Miners for Mining Bitcoin in 2022 Polygon launches Nightfall to provide enterprise solutions via ZKP tech Orphan Block Quilts Vintage 1920’s 1930’s Quilt Blocks Assorted Print Fabric Style Sewing Crafts Are you exited to learn the technical terms and the details of Blockchain Technology? That’s why at Coin Guides we’ve a section called knowledge base. Do check them out and follow us on Twitter to learn more about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. The minister believes that as power becomes scarcer in Sweden, the country may have to make difficult choices, and BTC miners could be among the casualties. For example, it may depend on how fast blocks are being processed or how fast nodes exchange data with one another. Now, since the release of what is known as the Bitcoin Core v.0.10 in early 2015, Bitcoin orphaned blocks are an impossibility. If I understand it right, a stale block is a block for which an earlier confirmation has been found and was accepted by majority of people. Refers to a block that has been created but was not accepted by the network to be added to the main blockchain. More Icons from Cryptocurrency Mining Icon Pack The time delay in propagating and accepting a block leads to Bitcoin SV nodes encountering scenarios where they need to select which of multiple blocks to accept as the most legitimate to include next in the chain. After a block is selected by the network, the other block is considered an orphaned block. Transactions in the orphaned block that were not included in the successful block, are re-included into the mempool as membership candidates for future blocks. In most cases the vast majority of transactions will be included in both, as propagation of transactions across the network is very efficient and both Miners are likely to have seen the same set. The release of Bitcoin Core v.0.10 made it impossible to create these kind of orphan blocks. This upgrade implemented headers-first synchronization, giving miners the ability to download the header to determine if a block was valid, which meant they could no longer receive any blocks whose parent was unknown. The first time a node is started, it only has a single block in its local best block chain—the hardcoded genesis block . The node chooses a remote peer, which we’ll call the sync node, and sends it the “getheaders” message illustrated below. Upon receipt of the “getblocks” message, the sync node takes the first header hash and searches its local best block chain for a block with that header hash. como que a vai superar assim — agatha (@effectagatha) July 23, 2022 They will remain as detached blocks in the cryptocurrency network. The network nodes are required to decide which block will get integrated into the blockchain by the Proof Of Work consensus mechanism. The rejected block is an orphan block because it was separated from the parent block. Any valid transactions contained in … Leggi tutto

https://online-wine-shop.com/make-a-cushion-cover-from-an-orphan-block-story/

[wezzaner]

On Saturday, Israel bombed the 12-story al-Jalaa Building, which housed the offices of The Associated Press, the TV network Al-Jazeera and other media outlets, along with several floors of apartments.

Netanyahu alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating inside the building. Such reasoning is routinely given for targeting certain locations in airstrikes, including residential buildings. The military also has accused the militant group of using journalists as human shields, but provided no evidence to back up the claims.

“We have had no indication Hamas was in the building or active in the building,” AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement. “This is something we actively check to the best of our ability. We would never knowingly put our journalists at risk.

“The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today,” Pruitt said. “We are shocked and horrified.”

That, by the way, is a blatant violation of human rights and is internationally considered a war crime.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself," in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Gantz, according to a readout. Austin "strongly condemned the continued onslaught of attacks by Hamas and other terrorists groups targeting Israeli civilians," it said, adding that the secretary had "shared his view on the need to restore calm."

Now, Benjamin Gantz is the one who met with top Facebook lobbyists Nick Clegg and Joel Kaplan and several TikTok executives a couple of days ago over zoom to discuss the spread of misinformation and violent threats on the social network. They are not meant to meet with any Palestinian reps until next WEEK.

Next week.

Let that sink in.

Turning a blind eye to Israel targeting media sources so the world can’t see Israel’s war crimes, is utterly horrifying. And the censorship has certainly already started, multiple hashtags and posts are being deleted and censored from all over, people sharing live feeds are being locked out of their accounts as well. People are literally being denied their rights for freedom of speech and free expression

“The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today”

And then have Netanyahu admitting Israel rejected multiple cease-fire offers from Hamas, and the attacks today alone resulting in 42 Palestinian casualties, 16 women and 10 children were among those killed and over 50 wounded. The airstrikes today hit a busy downtown street of residential buildings and storefronts over the course of five minutes just after midnight, destroying two adjacent buildings and one about 50 yards down the road.

I just... words fail.

Kindly take a few minutes to get educated and more oriented with the situation. Actor Michael Malarky has been sharing resources left and right on his instagram @michaelmalarky . @itsmirastern is a valuable resource as well on instagram. @abgutman on twitter, a jewish journalist from Tel Aviv, journalism as it should be. Oh, and Jewish Voice for Peace on pretty much all the platforms. Look up Abby Martin. And @letstalkpalestine in instagram

“If the Biden admin can’t stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to? How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights?” - Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

https://opseu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/30_basic_human_rights_list_english.pdf

[pop-culturereference]

as long as i’m reflecting you

Summary: “I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet. I'm you, Hawks."

@hawksweek2020 day 1: Cliché

If you’d rather read on ao3 (or if you want to read my long rant in the chapter notes): https://archiveofourown.org/works/27203351

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Pairing: Gen

Rating: G

Characters: Hawks, Dabi

Dabi towers over Hawks as he lies there, helpless, blue flame licking greedily at his face and wings. He can feel himself shriveling under the heat, but perhaps the worst part is this:

Takami Keigo.

Dabi knows his name. Dabi knew all along what Hawks was doing there, knows more than even his friends do—his name.

Hawks panics at the sound of Dabi’s boots crunching on the broken shards of his visor—He can’t die here! The battle is far from over, and he’s the only hero ready and equipped to deal with the aftermath. There’s not much Hawks can do, at this point, but he does have one option. Dabi needs time between using his quirk in order to recover. Use conversation, distract him, draw him in. In Hawks’s experience, villains never pass up a chance to gloat and throw their self-righteousness in everyone’s face. Get a villain talking about themself, and they won’t shut up. Even closed-off Dabi will likely blab his life story, thinking Hawks is about to die. It’s worth a shot.

“The only members of the League I found nothing on were you and Shigaraki. I found everyone else’s background, their families—but for you, I couldn’t even find a name. Who are you?”

Dabi sets a foot on Hawks’s back, leans his weight into it. Hawks pushes himself up with his hands as much as he can to prevent his ribs from snapping. He’s miscalculated. Dabi will keep his secrets over his ego. Hawks accepts his death even as he fights and pushes against it; he can’t die, but he’s going to, and there’s nothing he can do about it. He’s expecting Dabi to burn him to death right there, and he’s already bracing himself and gritting his teeth against the heat. He is <em>not</em> expecting Dabi to crouch down, one foot still on Hawks’s back, and whisper:

“I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet.” There’s a warm huff of laughter on his ear that has Hawks cringing away, then— “I’m you, Hawks.”

-----------------------------

Hawks wakes up to the horrible smell of antiseptic solution and the annoying tug of compression sleeves on his leg hair. Then, of course, the swoop of vertigo that speaks of some Pretty Heavy Anaesthesia. He tries to cough the smell out of his mouth, but is met with a sore throat—more than sore, actually. It’s like someone’s taken literal sandpaper and dragged it down his entire esophagus. He gags, tries to sit up, is hit off balance by the vertigo, and promptly throws up over the side of the bed.

He leans back against his pillows and wallows in the agony his stomach acid has raked over his poor, abused, sandpapered throat.

“Can I get you anything?” asks a nurse holding a bucket. Oh, good. He’d vomited into a bucket and not all over the hospital floor.

Hawks gestures frantically to his throat with a plea in his eyes that the nurse hopefully interprets as “water,” or “cough drop,” or even, “please just slit my throat and put me out of my misery.”

The nurse hands him both water and cough drops. Hawks’s eyes water with gratitude. Well, either that or pain. Maybe both.

“Sorry, man,” says the nurse as he reaches to adjust Hawks’s blanket. “They had to do surgery on your wings, and you had a breathing tube.”

Hawks croaks in horror. “Wings!?”

“They’ll be all right. You also had some skin grafts for the burns.”

Burns. Dabi. I’m you, Hawks.

“Phone,” he demands urgently.

With his miraculously only-slightly-singed phone in his hands, Hawks shoos the nurse away and starts tapping and typing with frenzied vigor.

His google search shows him an article spotlight on him, featuring an interview with Tokoyami, who apparently saved him. Good kid, that Tokoyami. It also shows him that there were minimal casualties and that apparently the UA students were spearheading the clean-up and rebuilding of the battleground. Okay. Okay. Good, good. All of it good. 

Now, what he <em>really</em> wants to know: Dabi.

To: VP HPSC: 

get me every pic i ever sent u of dabi highest res possible asap

also the cam footage of lov hideout

To the number he’d found on Google for the news network he saw at the raid:

Hi, this is Hawks. I saw your news logo at the fight in Reika. I was wondering if you could send me any footage you managed to get of the villains. Thank you. Here’s a selfie for proof it’s me.

To: Dabi (Villain):

hey ik its a bit of a long shot but like i would love an explanation thanks xoxo <3

He knows Dabi’s claim is ridiculous. He knows, all right? What he’s actually hoping to find is some connection to Endeavor. There’s definitely <em>something</em> familiar about Dabi, and that, paired with the fire quirk, could explain it. 

The first replies he gets are the pictures and footage from the Commission. Hawks zooms in and examines Dabi’s hair. He always knew it was dyed.The roots come in a lighter color, which would make his hair look perpetually greasy if it laid flat; but instead, it makes his spiky hair look just the slightest bit detached from his head. As he looks at the pictures, he’s surprised to realize that he was already biased toward his Endeavor explanation in his head: he was thinking Dabi’s hair was white, like the color of Todoroki Shouto’s ice side, from whoever was Endeavor’s wife. Closer scrutiny shows that it’s actually a dark blond, like Hawks’s own hair. 

That doesn’t mean anything, though.

Dabi’s aesthetically stapled under-eye bags are right in the spot where Hawks has his natural eye markings.

The one picture he managed to find of Dabi shirtless (It’s okay, Hawks reminds himself. I’m a creep with a noble cause. It was for the intel) shows that the stapled purple skin covers the part of his back where Hawks has his wings. If Dabi had wings and they were removed, purple skin grafts or whatever those were would cover up the evidence quite nicely.

And… what Hawks learned during the raid. Dabi’s weakness is his own quirk. Fire. That’s Hawks’s own biggest weakness. That’s almost too much to be a coincidence…what if…?

As he’s looking over the Commission’s images, he almost drops his phone in surprise because Dabi (Villain) texts him back. 

Every intelligent thought in his head evacuates in favor of wtfwtfwtfwtf.

It’s a selfie—a close-up of Dabi’s face, right behind a hand that’s flipping him off. It’s just the puzzle piece that he needs, because the small gleam of light catches on the telltale glint of a contact lens, and Hawks can see where the edge of the blue goes lighter where it’s not covering the colorful iris underneath—Dabi’s eyes aren’t actually blue. And, what Hawks has always thought of as edgy eyeliner looks suspiciously similar to his other eye markings.

Another quick text to: Pres HPSC, VP HPSC:

i dont have any sort of long lost twin brother right??? or like an evil clone or smth??

Almost instantly, he receives a No.

It should be a relief, but his mind’s still going haywire. Dabi…is him? He is Dabi? Dabi is Hawks? Does Hawks is Dabi who? Shut up, brain, you didn’t connect shit. It Dabi, Takami Keigo Dabi Hawks… if Hawks? Who Takami Dabi… he…   

-----------------------------

Maybe I shouldn’t try thinking when I’m high on painkillers, he thinks when he wakes up. 

As he looks around, he realizes he’s been moved to a more long-term room. Instead of curtains, it has a door, and there’s a TV and a nightstand. His phone is dead and he’s not about to call the nurse to come plug it in for him, so he switches on the TV instead, not sure how much he can trust his conclusions on the outcome of the raid if he convinced himself that he was somehow Dabi in the same 10-minute timespan.

The first thing that shows up on the news channel is a report about Hawks, and he’s greeted with the atrocious selfie he took to prove his identity to the news channel. His hair is a devastated battleground and missing completely on his burned side, he’s covered in gauze and medical tape, and his smile looks half-crazed. What was he thinking?

“Hawks is recovering in an unknown hospital, but he looks to be well. The real question is, will the Number Two Hero still be able to charm without half of his famous wind-swept hair?”

“I don’t know, Motome-san. Let’s look at some footage of the battle. I’m sure any lady—or gentleman—would be charmed by someone willing to go so far to protect them.”

Hawks rolls his eyes and scowls, but doesn’t turn off the TV. If they show his fight with Dabi—if he could get a quick glimpse of him—he could turn off the idiot switch in his brain that won’t shut up. 

Instead, what he sees is a streak of red that flies into Dabi’s hand. That’s one of his feathers. Dabi controlled one of his feathers. Dabi has control of Hawks’s Fierce Wings.

To hell with his pride! Hawks repeatedly jams the help button on the side of his bed, and a nurse arrives soon after, out of breath. Hawks feels a little bad for scaring the poor man, but he needs to charge his phone. As soon as it turns back on, he sends out the text to almost every single one of his contacts.

Hi all, this is Hawks. I’ve figured out the identity of the villain Dabi. It should help you lure him out and take him down. DABI IS ME. Text me with any questions. Go after him with fire, if you can.

Within three minutes, Hawks has rejected 7 calls. Text me with any questions, he said. Not call. He won’t be speaking with his sandpaper throat for at least the next month if he has anything to say about it. 

Someone with enough manners finally texts instead of calls. It reads: omw to kill you right now. should have finished the job last time.

Oh, shit. Did he really send that message to Dabi? 

Yeah. He did.

SOS this is not a joke, he sends to the HPSC. Dabi just texted me says he’s going to kill me right now. i’m in the hospital, can’t fight. PLEASE send someone

He answers the next call from Pres HPSC. “Can’t talk,” he rasps and tastes blood on his tongue. The president talks to him and he gives one tap for yes, two taps for no.

“Do you really want us to send someone?”

One tap.

The president sighs. “Hawks, as soon as you can speak, I expect the most thorough, detailed, in-depth report you’ve ever given in your life.”

--------------------------------

With Hawks’s warning, they capture Dabi easily enough. He shows up at the hospital directly and comes face-to-face with Endeavor, who, knowing about his weakness to fire, easily takes him down.

When Hawks visits Tartarus a month later to interrogate Dabi, he wonders how he ever missed it. Without the dye and the contacts, there’s no denying that Dabi is Hawks. He’s left wondering, though.

“Why did you text me at the hospital that you were on your way to kill me? I immediately got Endeavor there. I thought you were a little smarter than that.”

Dabi just shrugs, his newly-regenerated red feathers rustling with the movement. “Obviously not. I am you, after all.”

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Meat Is Latest Cyber Victim as Hackers Hit Top Supplier JBS (Bloomberg) The world’s biggest meat supplier has become the latest casualty of a cybersecurity attack. JBS SA shut its North American and Australian computer networks after an organized assault on Sunday on some of its servers, the company said by email. The attack sidelined two shifts and halted processing at one of Canada’s largest meatpacking plants, while the company canceled all beef and lamb kills across Australia, industry website Beef Central said. Some kill and fabrication shifts have also been canceled in the U.S. Hackers now have the commodities industry in their crosshairs with the JBS attack coming just three weeks after the operator of the biggest U.S. gasoline pipeline was targeted. It’s also happened as the global meat industry battles lingering Covid-19 absenteeism after recovering from mass outbreaks last year that saw plants shut and supplies disrupted.

China’s future gateway to Latin America is a mega-port in Peru (America Economia) Despite local opposition, Chinese investors are pumping billions into the Chancay project, a massive port complex north of Lima that will boost trade between China and Latin America as a whole, reports Gonzalo Torrico in business magazine America Economia. The Chancay port complex, with an initial investment of $1.3 billion, will turn this fishing and farming town into a regional hub that could redefine shipping lines in the entire southern Pacific. Since 2019, the project’s main stakeholder is the Chinese state firm Cosco Shipping Ports (60%). Cosco is a partner in 52 port projects worldwide. But in the Americas, Chancay is the first being built with Chinese capital. The complex is expected to be fully functional by 2024, helping consolidate China’s influence in South America, and in Peru especially. In the last decade, this country has become the regional crux of China’s economic and geopolitical interests. So far, Chinese firms have invested more than $30 billion in Peru, a figure exceeded only by money spent in Brazil. The principal sector is mining, which has absorbed more than half all these investments and has proven to be an excellent source for the mineral materials China needs to keep its industrial sector humming. One of those materials is copper, which Peru produces in great quantity.

More boats on canals and rivers than in 18th century as thousands opt for life afloat (Guardian) Little more than six months ago, Paul and Anthony Smith-Storey were still living in a three-bedroom semi-detached house near St Helens in Merseyside. But now the couple—and their dog, Dexter—have traded it all in for a life afloat in a two-metre-wide narrowboat on Peak Forest Canal in Derbyshire. “We took the equity out of the house, bought the boat and thought we’d enjoy it while we were still alive,” said Anthony, 48, an NHS sonographer. They are not the only ones. Record numbers are spending time on Britain’s rivers and canals, according to the Canal and River Trust. Such is their popularity that the charity, which manages 2,000 miles of waterways across England and Wales, says: “There are more boats on our canals now than at the height of the industrial revolution.” The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) said there are about 80,000 powered boats across the waterways of England, Scotland and Wales. Boat builders and sellers put the surge in interest down to the pandemic.

NSA spying row: US and Denmark pressed over allegations (BBC) European powers have pressed the US and Denmark over reports the two worked together to spy on top European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Danish broadcaster DR said Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service (FE) collaborated with the US National Security Agency (NSA) to gather information from 2012 to 2014. Mrs Merkel is among those demanding answers. “This is not acceptable between allies, and even less between allies and European partners,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, after speaking with Mrs Merkel.

The Taliban Say They’ve Changed. On the Ground, They’re Just as Brutal. (WSJ) During a recent trip, Kamaluddin visited a barbershop to obtain the illicit pleasures of clean-shaven cheeks and a fashionable mustache. But the shopkeeper, 25 years old, planned to let it regrow before heading home, wary of incurring the Taliban’s wrath. His father and brother were caught last month using smartphones in their home district of Arghistan, an area effectively ruled by the movement. The insurgents confiscated the devices, which could be used for supposedly un-Islamic behavior such as playing music and videos, and forced the men to swallow their SIM cards. Kamaluddin recounted the incident as he waited to return from Kandahar, the government-controlled provincial capital. “They will put me in prison if they see me like this,” he said. “If the Taliban come back, they will bring darkness.” The Taliban, ousted from power by a U.S.-led invasion 20 years ago, are poised to expand their influence as American forces leave the country. The group has sought in recent months to present themselves as a responsible state actor to regional powers and the West. Indeed, some of their most-violent punishments, such as amputations for accused thieves, are used less frequently than in the 1990s as they seek to avoid alienating Afghans. Yet accounts from Kamaluddin and others living under Taliban rule, as well as insurgents themselves, suggest that the group’s governance is as ruthless as ever.

Delhi Reopens a Crack (NYT) The Indian capital, which just weeks ago suffered the devastating force of the coronavirus, with tens of thousands of new infections daily and funeral pyres that burned day and night, is taking its first steps back toward normalcy. Officials on Monday reopened manufacturing and construction activity, allowing workers in those industries to return to their jobs after six weeks of staying at home to avoid infection. The move came after a sharp drop in new infections, at least by the official numbers, and as hospital wards emptied and the strain on medicine and supplies has eased. Life on the streets of Delhi is not expected to return to normal immediately. Schools and most businesses are still closed. The Delhi Metro system, which reopened after last year’s nationwide lockdown, has suspended service again. But the city government’s easing of restrictions will allow people to begin returning to work—and, more broadly, to start to repair India’s ailing, pandemic-struck economy.

Myanmar carries out air strikes after militia attacks (Reuters) Myanmar’s military used artillery and helicopters on Monday against anti-junta militias in the country’s east, witnesses and rebels said, forcing residents to flee and join thousands of others displaced by recent fighting in the region. Residents of Kayah state bordering Thailand said the military was firing artillery from positions inside the state capital Loikaw into Demoso, about 14.5 km (9 miles) away, where a People’s Defence Force said it had attacked troops and was coming under heavy fire. Myanmar’s military is fighting on multiple fronts and struggling to impose order since its Feb. 1 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi and her elected government, sparking nationwide protests and paralysing strikes. Decades-old conflicts between the military and ethnic minority armies have also reignited, while militias allied with a shadow government have stepped up attacks on the army, which has responded with heavy weapons and air strikes, forcing thousands to flee.

North Korea’s missile warning (Foreign Policy) North Korea warned the United States on Monday that relaxing South Korea’s missile limits could lead to an “acute and instable situation” in the region. “The termination step is a stark reminder of the U.S. hostile policy toward (North Korea) and its shameful double-dealing,” said Kim Myong Chol, an unofficial mouthpiece for Pyongyang, in a statement issued by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency. The United States recently lifted a 500-mile range restriction on South Korea’s missile program, in place since 1979. South Korea’s industrial ability to ramp up new missile production “could lead to an arms race with devastating implications,” Donald Kirk wrote last week in Foreign Policy.

Australian court upholds ban on most international travel (AP) An Australian court on Tuesday rejected a challenge to the federal government’s draconian power to prevent most citizens from leaving the country so that they don’t bring COVID-19 home. Australia is alone among developed democracies in preventing its citizens and permanent residents from leaving the country except in “exceptional circumstances” where they can demonstrate a “compelling reason.” Most Australians have been stranded in their island nation since March 2020 under a government emergency order made under the powerful Biosecurity Act. Surveys suggest most Australians applaud their government’s drastic border controls. The Australian newspaper published a survey last month that found 73% of respondents said the international border should remain closed until at least the middle of next year.

Lebanon’s economic crisis (Foreign Policy) Lebanon’s economic collapse could rank within the top 3 “most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century,” according to a new report issued by the World Bank. The report cites the “brutal and rapid” contraction of Lebanon’s GDP, which dropped from $55 billion in 2018 to $33 billion in 2020. “The social impact of the crisis, which is already dire, could rapidly become catastrophic,” the report notes, as more than half of Lebanon’s population is already living below the poverty line.

Congo killings (Foreign Policy) At least 55 people were killed in overnight attacks near two villages in eastern Congo, close to the border with Uganda. Congolese officials blamed the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist insurgent group that in March was deemed a foreign terrorist organization by the United States. The group killed more than 850 people in 2020, according to the United Nations. At the beginning of May, President Félix Tshisekedi declared a state of siege across the affected regions, surging troops in a bid to quell violence.