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[irfanfarooqi]

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[hydroplast-karachi]

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[vague-humanoid]

Remembering my family, killed by Israel, with Ahmed Alnaouq

“It was exactly this time last year that I sent my usual message to my family on our WhatsApp group asking if they were all okay. I had no idea this would be my last message to them. Until today, no one has responded. It has been a year since Israel dropped a bomb on my family home, murdering 21 of my closest relatives.”

Ahmed Alnaouq, who wrote these words, lost his father, two brothers, three sisters, 14 nieces and nephews and a cousin in that Israeli massacre on 22 October 2023.

Co-founder and director of We Are Not Numbers, Ahmed hosts a podcast with Palestine Deep Dive. He is advocacy officer for the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and has a Master’s degree in international journalism from Leeds University. Ahmed’s writings have been published by Gulf News and The New Arab among others.

Ahmed joins us to talk about his family, how he has coped since that terrible day, and how he finds the strength to continue his work and advocacy for Palestine in the face of intense grief and ceaseless worry for those still trying to survive the genocide.

[girlactionfigure]

🔵 WEDNESDAY morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( DOTS: 🔹blue - Iran war news.  ♦️⭕red - Gaza & Hezbollah active war news.  ▪️black - general Israel news. 🔸yellow - hostage deal news )

▪️HAMAS “elects” terror leader Yahya Sinwar as their political leader as well.  Congratulations are pouring in from all over the Arab world, for the appointment of the worst mass murderer since ISIS and the Huti genocide of Rwanda. 

▪️PRISON ABUSE CASE.. The detentions of five reserve soldiers suspected of the serious abuse of a Gazan terrorist mass murdering detainee at the Sde Teiman base have been extended until Sunday.

▪️FINANCE.. the shekel is slightly weakening as a currency: the euro climbs to NIS 4.20, the dollar to NIS 3.85.

▪️FLIGHT CANCELLED?   you are due a refund!  In any case of a canceled flight, and its starting point or destination is Israel, every passenger has the right to choose between two options: a full refund or an alternative flight ticket. The refund will be paid within 21 days, and it includes the full cost of the ticket, including fees, levies and taxes.  If a person booked a round-trip flight from Israel with the same airline in one reservation, and only his outbound flight was canceled, he will be entitled to a refund for the return trip as well.  If in the middle of a round trip and the return to Israel is cancelled, the passenger will be entitled to a refund of half of the amount he paid.

In addition, in the event of a canceled return flight to Israel, the airline is obligated to "provide accommodation, food, etc. services for canceled flights, until the passenger is able to return. However, it is likely that a court will impose this obligation within the limits of reason."  https://www.calcalist.co.il/local_news/article/byv5wmrtr

🔹THE LEBANESE THINK.. “Israel will enter from the back of Mount Hermon to reach the Damascus-Lebanon axis, this is the only way they will be able to stop the rocket supply (coming from Iran).”

🔹The US ships almost non-stop unimaginable amounts of weapons to the Middle East via air transport.  As well, the US significantly increases the jets at the air force bases in the Persian Gulf.  US F-18’s and F-22’s spotted inbound in UK stopovers.

🔹Head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry arrived in Saudi Arabia to participate in the emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.  Analysts speculate this the reason for the postponement of the Iranian attack.

🔹All Iranian government offices and banks in Tehran's Alborz district will be closed tomorrow “due to rising temperatures”.

🔹Report: Some US analysts believe that Iran may be reconsidering the response.

🔹Conversely, since yesterday, signs of Iranian preparations to launch an attack against Israel have been received in the US.

♦️IDF in Judea and Samaria: "12 terrorists have been eliminated in the last 24 hours. Since the beginning of the week, 20 terrorists have been eliminated from the air and the ground via the undercover unit.

♦️COUNTER-TERROR OP.. overnight in Beit Purik, Shechem.

♦️US CENTCOM.. intercepted a suicide drone and two ballistic missiles launched from Yemen. (Doesn’t say if launched at cargo ships or Israel.)

♦️US ATTACKS YEMEN.. An American-British attack early in the morning on the Thais sub-district, south of the capital Sana’a.

♦️GAZA - EVAC ORDERS.. DF ordered the residents of the Gaza City neighborhoods Sheikh Zayed, Beit Hanun and Almanshiya to evacuate after rocket fire from the area.

[eretzyisrael]

by Gerald M. Steinberg

Until now. Two major revelations have ripped away the curtain from HRW's moral facade, and revealed a thoroughly corrupt organization. The first was in the form of an email sent to all 600 staff members by senior editor turned whistleblower Danielle Haas on her last day on the job (November 14), which condemned the deep hostility to Israel that permeates every aspect of HRW. The second revelation was the publication by the authoritative Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) of a secret January 2018 letter allegedly authorizing the transfer of 3 million Euros (about US $3.75 million at the time) from Qatar to HRW.

Haas's email provided confirmation and examples of the "years of politicization" that stained all of HRW's activities related to Israel, violating "basic editorial standards related to rigor, balance, and collegiality." She noted that HRW's response to the October 7 Hamas massacre invoked "the 'context' of 'apartheid' and 'occupation' before blood was even dry on bedroom walls" and "could easily be construed as blaming the victim." Blaming Israel and its Jewish supporters for terrorism and antisemitism has been one of HRW's frequent themes. Although Haas did not mention Roth's name, his 29 year obsession with Israel was apparent in her depiction of the "shattered professionalism, abandoned principles of accuracy and fairness," and the ways that HRW "surrendered its duty to stand for the human rights of all."

HRW's moral decay is also reflected in the malicious campaign to label Israel as the world's only "apartheid state" – that, as in the case of South Africa, has no right to exist. In launching a 2021 campaign on this theme, HRW sent advanced copies of a 217-page pseudo-research report filled with legal-sounding jargon and propaganda to allied journalists as part of its standard media manipulation strategy. Haas notes that HRW's leaders (i.e. Roth and acolytes) knew the text "would rarely be read in full. And there is little doubt it has not been by those—including Hamas supporters—who now bandy about the term with appalling ease." For those who worked hard to avoid seeing the extensive rot at the core of HRW, the evidence is now inescapable.

A week later, a second earthquake ripped through HRW's carefully manicured curtain of secrecy. On November 22, 2023, MEMRI posted a letter in Arabic apparently showing that Qatar – the petroleum-rich Gulf kingdom that supports Hamas, runs Al Jazeera's propaganda, and buys influence through multi-million dollar donations to universities, the prestigious Brookings Institution and elsewhere -- secretly funds HRW. The letter, dated January 15, 2018, refers to a payment in the amount of 3 million euros made to the Human Rights Watch organization, signed by Abdullah Bin Khalaf Hattab Al Ka'bi, director of Qatar's Office of the Prime Minister and addressed to Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al-Emadi.

[fatehbaz]

Arizona’s Sonoran desert and the Arabian desert [...] are directly linked. [...]

The dairy company Almarai that bought that alfalfa farm in Arizona in 2014 is actually headquartered just outside Riyadh, in a place called Al Kharj. This had been a favorite spot for the first Saudi king Abdulaziz, or Ibn Saud. He tried to set it up as a royal farm in the 1930s and he eventually pulled in Aramco (then the Arabian-American Oil Company, and now Saudi Aramco) to manage the operations. But in the early 1940s, an American geologist Karl S Twitchell (who had spent some of his early years mining in Arizona) convinced the US government to fund his 1942 Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia, ultimately aiming to develop the Al Kharj farms and curry favor with King Ibn Saud. This lay the groundwork for another US government-funded mission to send a team of Arizona farmers Al Kharj, with the idea that they could bring their special desert expertise to expand the farm and modernize Saudi agriculture.

The State Department also organized several royal family visits to tour Arizona agriculture -- first in 1943 by princes Faisal and Khalid (both of whom would later become kings of Saudi Arabia) and then in 1947 by Crown Prince Saud al-Saud (who would also become king).

And this second visit to Arizona was pivotal in kicking off Saudi Arabia’s dairy industry in the early 1950s; when Crown Prince Saud became King Saud and took over the Al Kharj farm, he insisted on getting a “Grade A dairy” (as he called it) like what he had seen in Arizona.

Flash forward many decades and a shocking regime of state agricultural subsidies, and it is precisely this early home of Saudi dairy that Almarai and its nearly 100,000 cows are based.

This kind of circularity [...] -- a seemingly modern point of connection actually having much deeper roots. [...]

---

When American settlers and the US military first started to colonize the place that we now know as Arizona after it was acquired in 1848, they really did not know how to deal with the desert environment. But early advocates of US expansionism thought that they could use ideas and approaches from the “Old World” deserts of the Middle East (including farming techniques, plants, and animals, etc.) to conquer the American “New World” deserts. [...] [There was a] wide-ranging political, scientific, military, and cultural system that was needed for American[s] [...] to take over this territory and build US empire domestically. [...] So as US empire started to expand beyond North America, Euro-American settlers and their descendants learned that they could sell this desert expertise abroad, and started to build new colonial networks in the Middle East around the stories of their common arid lands experiences. [...] [It] is not just about domestic empire-building, but is also about US empire-building in the Arabian Peninsula since the mid-1900s. [...]

[T]he “desert” becomes a narrative resource.

In this sense, it is less about the physical characteristics of desert environments and more about how people breathe life into their stories of the desert and how they put these stories to work through a constellation of desires and beliefs about deserts. [...]

[T]hink about Gulf geopolitics beyond mainstream approaches [...], and [...] examine the role of science, expertise, and techno-futures in building and bolstering state power [...]. [T]he University of Arizona could not just sell a prestigious brand-name. Instead, to get an edge, they relied on selling their stories about the desert and their special arid lands expertise. But [...] this was something that had been going on for over one hundred years.

---

Words of: Natalie Koch. From the transcript of an interview published as: “Natalie Koch, Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia (New Texts Out Now).” Published online by Jadaliyya. 17 May 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[fashionbooksmilano]

The Wildfowl Art of David Maass Masters of the Wild

Text by Michael McIntosh

Gulf Pub. Co., Houston 1990, 175 pages, 30,5x28,5cm, ISBN 087201-495-9

euro 90,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

David Maass is no doubt the greatest wildfowl artist. Each and every bird that he has observed has appeared on these pages and one gets easily engrossed in it and takes time to take off to the next page. Every image is created with its own habitat, ambience, atmosphere and mood reveals his love for wildfowl and his great sense of observation. A great source of inspiration fort artists and especially to those ardent bird photographers

25/05/24

[mariacallous]

French President Emmanuel Macron surprised fellow European leaders this week with his suggestion that some European countries might send troops to Ukraine to prevent Russia from winning its war of aggression there. Taken at face value, Macron’s remarks—made at a newly created European Union-Ukraine summit in Paris—put him immediately at the more forward-leaning end of the spectrum of Western leaders. Even U.S. President Joe Biden, who raised eyebrows with his apparent call for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ouster in a speech in Warsaw in March 2022, has been careful since the start of the war to rule out sending U.S. troops and to calibrate U.S. military aid to Ukraine to avoid any possible appearance of inviting direct confrontation with Russia.

Perhaps Macron meant what he said, and the rubber of strategic autonomy is finally hitting the road of European security. Perhaps France is finally ready to take up the empty mantle of European leadership to do what it takes to ensure Russia is stopped before it presents Europe with a far-reaching strategic defeat and risk to its long-term security. Keeping future options open—and Putin guessing—could be a way to signal to the Kremlin that Europe is taking deterrence seriously. Indeed, Macron said after the summit that all his comments about deterring Russia were carefully thought out.

But Macron may have had other objectives. Infamous in Europe for rushing ahead with radical lone-wolf proposals, his intention may have been just to move the debate forward. In his comments, he bemoaned some countries’ tendency to initially reject most proposals for Ukrainian support before eventually acquiescing. This was one of several thinly veiled digs at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who this week once again ruled out supplying Ukraine with Taurus long-range missiles, mirroring last year’s painful debate over Leopard tanks and F-16s—despite widespread domestic German support for increasing military aid for Ukraine.

If Macron really was serious about the possibility of European troops on the ground, his approach left much to be desired. He should, for one, have coordinated with at least a few key allies. While he may have succeeded in grabbing headlines, he has in the process alienated fellow European leaders: His suggestion was shot down not only by the Kremlin but by various NATO allies within the first 24 hours.

If Macron were serious, he might also have chosen to be much clearer about scenarios in which European troops might be moved to Ukraine and perhaps outlined a concrete French role. Ukraine’s economic reconstruction—or joint manufacturing sites of Ukrainian and European defense firms—might in the future well require European troops to secure them. Similarly, the European Union’s military training mission for Ukraine, which is currently hosted on EU soil, might be moved to Ukrainian territory. So far, however, these steps have been widely rejected by European leaders, who will have to be convinced behind the scenes or even forced into action by a country like France leading by example. To this end, public chiding and Macron-style grandstanding will do little good.

Perhaps Macron had other motives. In the halls of NATO headquarters in Brussels and in a number of European capitals in recent months, complaints about French inaction have grown louder. Indeed, there is a gaping gulf between France’s meager support for Ukraine and its aspirations to play a leadership role on the continent. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker, France ranks 22nd among the EU’s 27 members in terms of aid commitments to Ukraine as a share of GDP. Whereas Germany this month committed another 7.1 billion euros ($7.7 billion) to Ukraine, a recent bilateral security agreement between France and Ukraine promises French military assistance of only “up to” 3 billion euros—which puts France in the range of much smaller European countries, such as the Netherlands with its pledge of more than 2 billion euros. A more cynical observer might see Macron’s comments as an attempt to distract from his country’s failure to make anything close to the contributions of other large European powers—precisely at a moment when the situation on the ground in Ukraine has grown desperate and dire and despite the fact that France is the most capable and well-equipped military power on the continent.

A more charitable reading of Macron’s comments is that, faced with the looming U.S. election and a potential vacuum created by the United States’ failure to provide leadership, he intended to mentally prepare Europeans for the potential imperative of mustering their own troops to contain the Russian threat. This makes sense not only given Europe’s return to conquest and war but also against the backdrop of U.S. politics: NATO’s leading power now has a presidential candidate inviting Russia to invade European allies and a Congress that cannot separate domestic politics from urgent and critical U.S. national security interests. Even if Biden stays in power, Washington’s rejection of NATO membership for Ukraine remains unlikely to change in the near term. No matter what happens, Europeans must think through the security and defense implications of offering Ukraine EU membership in several years’ time. So perhaps Macron was offering a longer-term perspective.

However, long-term perspectives are not missing from the debate. At the Munich Security Conference this month, there were endless panel discussions focused on European security in five or 10 years but that what Europe really needs right now is short-term action that impacts Russia’s war. In the short term, even though European arms production is increasing, Ukraine has only received one-third of the 1 million artillery shells it was promised by the EU. In fact, it was Paris that initially blocked the procurement of shells from outside the EU to make up for the shortfall, making critics wonder whether French industrial policy is more important to Macron than whether Ukraine loses or wins. Only at this week’s summit did he appear to have changed his mind.

Without fast action, Ukraine is going to lose the war. Precious few people in Western capitals are focused on the very real possibility that if the U.S. House of Representatives fails to act on the lagging aid bill and European powers don’t do more—not in 10 years but now—NATO leaders could gather at their summit in Washington in July as Russian troops make steady progress across Ukraine, capture more Ukrainian cities, and call into question NATO’s capabilities and will.

“Nothing that came out of that dinner will help Ukraine,” a frustrated senior U.S. official told us in reference to Macron’s remarks. If France wants to lead on European security, it should focus less on trial-ballooning the idea of troops on the ground and more on working with the existing Ukraine Defense Contact Group to send more military support to Ukraine, including French weapons and materiel. Before it’s too late.

[anythingeverythingm]

The year 2024 is expected to be one of the best years for sport fans due to the many events taking place. Whether you are a fan or simply want to know what is happening here is a little recap of the major sporting events taking place that you might find interesting. (I will be mostly talking about the international ones and the european ones as well as the ones i will be following closely)

2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (which is ending on the 5th of January) 2023–24 Four Hills Tournament ( which is ending on the 6th of January) 2024 United Cup (which is ending on the 7th of January) 2023–24 Tour de Ski (which is ending on the 7th of January) 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship (4-16 January) 2024 European Speed Skating Championships (5-7 January) 2024 Women's European Water Polo Championship (5-13 January) 2024 Dakar Rally (5-19 January) 2024 European Figure Skating Championships (8-14 January) 2024 European Men's Handball Championship (10-28 January) 2023 AFC Asian Cup (12 January - 10 February) 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (13 January - 11 February) 2024 Australian Open (15-28 January) 2024 Winter Youth Olympics (19 January – 2 February) World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships 2024 (30 January – 3 February) 2024 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (30 January – 4 February) 2024 Six Nations Championship (2 February – 16 March) 2024 World Junior Figure Skating Championships (26 February – 3 March) 2024 Miami Open (17–31 March) 2024 World Figure Skating Championships (18–24 March) 2024 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships (24–28 April) 2024 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships (2-5 May) 2024 Giro d'Italia (UCI World Tour) (4–26 May) 2024 French Open (26 May −8 June)

UEFA Euro 2024 (14 June–14 July) 2024 Copa América (20 June–14 July) 2024 Tour de France (UCI World Tour) (29 June–21 July) 2024 Wimbledon Championships (1-14 July) 2024 Summer Olympics (26 July–11 August) 2024 US Open (26 August–8 September) 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup (14 September–6 October) 2024 European Women's Handball Championship (28 November–15 December)

All the FIFA Cups held this year: 12 January—10 February Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup, in Qatar 13 January—11 February Ivory Coast 2023 AFCON, in Ivory Coast 14 June—14 July United States 2024 Copa América, in United States 31 August–22 September Colombia 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, in Colombia 16 October–3 November Dominican Republic 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, in Dominican Republic June South Korea 2024 Suwon JS Cup in Suwon, South Korea December 2024 Thailand 2024 King's Cup in Thailand December 2024 Kuwait 26th Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait

UEFA finals: 2024 UEFA Europa League final (22 May) 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final (29 May) 2024 UEFA Champions League final (1 June)

Formula One (29 February - 8 December) and the support series F1 Academy (7 March - 8 December) MotoGP (8 March - 17 November) and the support series

What are you most excited for?

[usafphantom2]

United Kingdom, Japan and Italy sign treaty for the Global Air Combat Program (GCAP)

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 12/14/2023 - 08:39am Military

The United Kingdom, Italy and Japan have signed an international treaty for a Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) that aims to develop an innovative stealth fighter with supersonic capability and equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

The treaty marks a key stage of the historic Global Air Combat Program (GCAP) and the headquarters of the program will be based in Great Britain.

This combat aircraft, which is expected to fly to the skies by 2035, aims to take advantage of next-generation technologies and become one of the most advanced, interoperable, adaptable and connected fighters in the world in service worldwide. The program is expected to create highly qualified jobs in the United Kingdom and partner countries over the next decade and beyond.

The supersonic stealth jet will feature a powerful radar that can provide 10,000 times more data than current systems, providing an advantage in victory in battles.

In the United Kingdom, the effort is being led by BAE Systems, in close partnership with Rolls-Royce, Leonardo UK and MBDA UK – as well as hundreds of supply chain companies across the country. Together, they are working closely with leading companies in Japan (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, IHI Corp, Avio Aero) and Italy (Leonardo) to progress in the design and development of this aircraft.

Despite the current limitation to the three countries, there is speculation about Saudi Arabia's accession in the future, although the Japanese government allegedly opposes the candidacy of the Gulf monarchy. GCAP is among several sixth-generation fighter programs in the West. In Europe, the Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS) effort, involving France, Germany, Spain and potential newcomers such as Sweden, aims to select a fighter project by 2025. The GCAP partnership seems to be ahead of the FCAS, with the United States planning to grant a project for its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter by next year.

The treaty confirmed that the United Kingdom will host the joint headquarters of the GCAP government, supporting hundreds of jobs in the United Kingdom and working with Japanese and Italian colleagues. The first CEO will come from Japan. The HQ will be responsible for providing vital military capacity, strengthening the industrial air combat capacity of each country and obtaining a good cost-benefit ratio.

Supporting the Prime Minister's priority of growing the economy, there are already about 3,000 people in the main combat air centers throughout the United Kingdom, including the southwest and northwest of England and Edinburgh, with almost 600 contracted organizations across the country, including SMEs and academic institutions.

In air combat, the UK Ministry of Defense has spent £2 billion in the UK over the past 5 years on technology, creating skills and capabilities - with an additional £600 million from the industry - to ensure that the UK is ready to boost this program.

A crucial program for the future of stability in the Euro-Atlantic, the Indo-Pacific and broader global security, GCAP is a strong example of the UK's global leadership in developing the next-generation military capacity to deter and defeat threats to the UK and our allies.

It is another demonstration of our commitment to Indo-Pacific security, after the deployment of the Royal Navy's Carrier Strike Group in 2021, with a new deployment coming in 2025, as well as the Navy maintaining a persistent presence in the region through HMS Spey and HMSTamar.

Separately, a new joint business construction will be based in the United Kingdom, with a significant global presence. This industrial counterpart of the government organization will oversee the support and timely delivery of the program, including the date of entry into service of the combat aircraft in 2035 - known as Tempest in the United Kingdom. The first leader of joint business construction will be from Italy.

This collaborative approach is indicative of the innovative international program.

GCAP will attract investments in research and development in digital design and advanced manufacturing processes, providing opportunities for our next generation of highly qualified engineers and technicians.

Tags: Military AviationGCAP - Global Combat Air Program

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[irfanfarooqi]

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[adventurebeforedementia]

Beautiful Côte d’Azur

We’ve been walking in the footsteps of the world’s top celebrities on the Côte d’Azur. Our trip along the French Riviera has taken us to Cannes - famous for its international film festival - and Antibes and St Tropez - home of 60’s film star, Bridgette Bardot among many other A list celebrities.

At each of these towns, the harbours are jam packed with the most luxurious yachts, travelling from London, New York and across Europe to visit. Luxury villas can be rented here with staring prices of 27,000 Euros a week, rising to eye-watering sums for the most unique.

But that’s OK. We don’t need a luxury pad. We’re quite at home in Big Boy and we were just happy to find out more about what makes these towns so special.

Cannes’ connection with the stars can be seen everywhere, not least in the street art which can be found across the town. Huge murals of Marilyn Monroe, French actors and comedians and a detailed painting which included Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Laurel and Hardy, Batman and Robin and the Star Wars’ robots among others are painted on the buildings.

We loved Cannes’ old town and harbour front. During our stay, we celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary, eating fabulously fresh seafood at one of the quay restaurants in one of our most favourite parts of Europe.

A quick train ride took us to Antibes, a really charming place with its old town enclosed with ramparts. The Nomad of Antibes - an unusual sculpture designed by a Spanish artist of a man looking out to sea - sits on part of the ramparts adjoining the port. The statue was created as part of a temporary exhibition but is now owned by the city and the Picasso Museum, so now it belongs to Antibes.

At both Cannes and Antibes, the daily fruit and flower markets are really special. Here you can buy a huge variety of fruit and vegetables, spices, olives, fish, meat and the most beautiful bouquets. We love a good market and bought plenty of fresh fruit.

After saying goodbye to Cannes, we headed along the coast road to the Gulf of St Tropez and dropped into the town for a quick visit.

St Tropez started life as a fishing village and it still has a fish market decorated with elaborate tiles marking its past. It also has a long connection with artists and, even though we had lost the sun and it was threatening rain, they were still out in force on the quayside.

But St Tropez as you can imagine, is extremely expensive. You’ll pay 10 Euros for a tea or coffee just to be sitting at the quayside. Our budget doesn’t stretch to such luxury, so we headed off on the next part of our trip.

Now we are staying just outside Montpelier and looking forward to exploring the city. The clouds have moved in and there’s not much sun, but it’s still warm and better than the U.K. weather. So we’re not complaining.

[hopeonmyphone]

BTS J-Hope's enlistment, ABC, BBC, Egypt TV, etc. 300 overseas media coverage "World attention"

Jhope joined the 36th Army Recruit Training Center in Wonju, Gangwon-do on the 18th, and more than 300 media outlets around the world reported on it and showed great interest. .

The world's three major news agencies, the AP of the US , Reuters of the UK, and AFP of France, introduced that "BTS has become a global cultural phenomenon by contributing billions of dollars to the Korean economy and building an international fan base "

Special exemption from military service is provided to traditional musicians, ballet and other dancers if they have won a top prize in a particular competition and are judged to have increased national prestige, but K-pop stars and other entertainers are not subject to the privilege.” ABC , CBS , NBC , Fox News, and UPI, the three major American terrestrial broadcasters , also reported on the enlistment news. NBC and CBS also reported on entertainment news programs such as Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight.

CNN reported on the news of their enlistment, saying, " BTS have become global superstars, such as being nominated for a Grammy, and with sales of $4.9 billion in 2019, they account for 0.3% of the country's gross domestic product and have become an important part of the Korean economy."

Major media such as Time, Forbes, Washington Times, Washington Post, USA Today, People, Variety, music media such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, American Songwriter, radio networks such as iHeartRadio and Ohda, and entertainment Tonight, Teen Vogue, EFE , and IBTIMES also reported the news.

In the United States, even local media such as New York Daily News, SCNOW , Gadget Times, Montana Standard, laprensalatina , Fox LA , and Massachusetts Radio joined the ranks of reporting and showed keen interest. Canada's ET Canada also broke the news.

Brazil's OFuxico , Mexico's daily Diario de Yucatan , la verdad noticias, Peruvian daily la republica , Aristegui Noticias , news es euro , TV channel latina pe , and Chilean publimetro , etc.

Britain's public broadcaster BBC reported on the situation in South Korean politics, saying, "There has been discussion for years about whether BTS should serve compulsory service or whether they should be exempted for their contribution to the arts, but the Ministry of Defense has ruled that they must serve . " "When J-Hope released a photo of his shaved head, fans cheered by clicking more than 8 million likes," the report said.

Daily Mail, a daily newspaper in the UK, NME , a music media outlet , Metro Entertainment, and Forcenet, which delivers news related to defense around the world, also reported news.

In France, news of J-Hope's enlistment was reported by 24-hour news channel BFM TV , state-run international news TV network France 24, and weekly news magazine Paris Match.

Germany's wochenschau , Italy's TV news channel Sky TG24 , Netherlands' TV channel RTL Boulevard , Spain's national daily sports newspaper Marca, Portugal's national newspaper publico , and Russia's Orsk Today also joined in the reporting.

In Africa, Egyptian TV channel Sada El Balad , Egyptian radio channel Nile FM , Nigerian news agency Peoples Gazette , and Jordanian mediaAl Bawaba et al reported. UAE daily Khalij Times and Gulf News reported the news.

In India, many media such as The Telegraph, India TV , NDTV , Hindustan Times, East Mojo, Fun Times, Delhi Times, Glasham, and Bangalore Times showed interest.

Japan's Oricon News, Billboard Japan, The Japan News, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post Lifestyle Asia, Singapore's Straits Times, Philippine daily Inquirer, CNN Philippines Philstar, ABS-CBN, Indonesia 's CNN Indonesia , Thailand 's Reports from Asian countries followed, including thethaiger daily , Malaysian Insight, Pakistan's Global Village Space , and Vietnam's daily thanh nien .

It is estimated that hundreds of millions of viewers and readers around the world heard the news of J-Hope's enlistment through such news reports. Meanwhile, J-Hope performed ' HUH', a song from Suga's solo album released on the 21st.?!' as a lyricist/composer and featured in the song, giving fans a song gift. J-Hope's scheduled discharge date is October 17, 2024.

Source: Herald Economy

[beardedmrbean]

In a poll by tabloid Ilta-Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun), 53 percent of respondents said they would be willing to see Finland join Nato without Sweden.

The question comes at a time when Sweden's Nato accession lies in limbo as it is held hostage by Turkey. According to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his country seemingly approves of Finland joining the defence alliance. However, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) has said that Finland has the "patience" to wait for such a decision.

The survey commissioned by IS and conducted by polling firm Taloustutkimus also had 28 percent of respondents saying that Finland should wait to join Nato with Sweden while 19 percent of those polled said they could not say.

Taloustutkimus research director Juho Rahkonen offered his input on the survey, noting that Finland "cannot turn back now" and that is "clear message to decision makers".

Rahkonen further noted that people in Finland have become slightly more convinced that they should not hold out for Sweden on the issue of joining Nato, compared to previous surveys.

"The Finnish opinion in this survey can be summed up in one sentence: 'Sveriges sak är inte vår' [Sweden's cause is not ours], Rahkonen emphasised, recalling a famous piece of Swedish propaganda during the Winter War — "Finland's cause is ours (siirryt toiseen palveluun)".

Ukrainian arrivals and municipalities residence

As the war in Ukraine approaches its one-year anniversary, many Ukrainian arrivals in Finland are preparing to apply for their municipality of residence.

Ostrobothnia-based Ilkka-Pohjalainen (siirryt toiseen palveluun) writes that after living in a municipality for one year, the arrivals from Ukraine will be entitled to apply for their municipality of residence.

While applying for a municipality of residence is not mandatory, it would entitle Ukrainian arrivals to benefits not seen under the status of temporary protection. In addition, it will mean that Ukrainian children must attend Finnish schools in their municipality rather than remote Ukrainian schooling, which is accepted under temporary protection status.

The Finnish Immigration Service said on Monday that more than 40,000 Ukrainians came to Finland last year after the temporary protection introduced by the EU.

IP predicted a potential logistical nightmare looming as municipalities braced for a possible influx of applications from Ukrainians.

The largest issue, according to sources interviewed, is a lack of knowing how many will apply. A Ministry of the Interior poll from last summer found that just under a third of Ukrainian arrivals planned to stay in Finland.

Finnish brand spotted at massive drug seizure

Helsingin Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) covers a US Coast Guard vessel seizing illegal drugs worth over 30 million euros from a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

According to a press release by the US Navy, 4,000 kilograms of hashish and 512 kilograms of methamphetamines were seized from the vessel.

As part of its press release, the US Navy posted a picture of the vessel's deck showing yellow sacks and dozens — if not more — of packages depicting the red design of Finnish brand Paulig's Juhla Mokka coffee.

HS contacted Paulig over their brand's appearance at the site of the drug trafficking incident, who were already alerted by the news.

"It is unfortunate that our brand has been used for criminal activity. We don't have any more information on the matter," commented Paulig's director of communications and responsibility Kaisa Lipponen.

[girlactionfigure]

🔅Wed evening - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

🔻ALERTS..  

Rockets - from Hezbollah - at Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai, Ma'ayan Baruch, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval

Drones - from Hezbollah - at Beit Hillel, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval, Metulla, Manara, Ma'ayan Baruch, Margaliot, Misgav Am, Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai 

▪️DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS.. “We will enter Rafah and enter the center camps. Hamas is defeated and in hiding.”

▪️GERMANY FINDS OUT.. Tens of millions of Euros from Germany for the sewer infrastructure of Gaza were diverted and used to build the terror tunnels of Hamas.

▪️FOLLOWING INFO THAT AN OCT. 7 TERRORIST WAS AT HADASSAH HOSPITAL.. Hostage and Soldier family members made their way to Hadassah Mount Scopus hospital following information that a terrorist from the Oct. 7 massacre was receiving medical treatment in the intensive care unit.  Security officials quickly removed the terrorist and took him to an on-base medical facility.

▪️IDF WARNS.. via “sources”,  "We will have difficulty meeting the commitment to create a buffer zone one kilometer from the Gaza border." At the same time, sources warn that Hamas is making an effort to restore its capabilities in preparation for a future attack, while Israel is promoting unprecedented humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. (Walla)

▪️HAMAS BANKER ASSASSINATED.. Muhammad Sarour, 57 years old, who has been under US sanctions since 2019 for transferring funds from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to the military wing of Hamas, was found dead yesterday in a villa in the village of Beit Mary, east of Beirut. He was found in the villa when he was shot (6 bullets) and the 2 Glock pistols used to kill him were found in the kitchen of the villa while they were in a special cleaning agent to eliminate traces.

▪️HAMAS LEADERSHIP - SONS OF LEADER, ASSASSINATED..  Hazem, Amir and Mohammed, three of the sons of Ismail Haniya, chairman of the political bureau of Hamas, were killed in an airstrike on a car in the Shati camp in Gaza.  Haniya says, “I thank allahaha for this honor he gave me. My sons died a martyr's death.”

▪️WAR PREP? .. Min. of Education instructs schools to instruct their students to take their books and supplies home for Passover - possibly allowing for remote teaching.  Min. of Health has instructed hospitals to move primary operations to hardened operating rooms, particularly in the north.  Wise basic prep, or?

▪️YEMEN WAR PREP?  The Yemeni forces raised alert on all land fronts, the explanation, unusual military movements related to the United Arab Emirates.

▪️US WAR ACTIVITY.. Intensive flights of American spy planes in the Persian Gulf and over the airspace of Saada province in northern Yemen. 3 aerial refuelers were also observed over the bay.

▪️IRAN - DEFENSES UP.. “The joint defense base of Khatam al-Anbiya has put all missile units and radar systems on full alert throughout the country.”

🟠 CEASEFIRE TALKS..  Hamas: “The resistance informed the mediators that it is not ready to give up a mechanism for a complete end to the fighting and that it rejects the Israeli threats regarding military action in Rafah.”  The Hamas delegation that left Cairo will not return soon.

[magpiejay1234]

Part of the interesting thing about current MENA situation is what will happen next once the remaining Russia-affliated Arab-majority socialist countries (which is now limited to Algeria, and Western Sahara as we discussed before) have their regimes changed.

Of course, if Russia collapses in North Caucasus, the focus will be there. However, we will ignore that for now.

Since Democrats prefer Qatar, which prefers the Muslim Brotherhood, the next Democratic MENA objective might be to topple monarchies once again, similar to the situation in the First Arab Spring with Bahrain. Bahrain, UAE, and Saudis are all hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Democrats don't generally like Saudis due to the Bush-era politics, so this might be a point of contention, depending how China continues to collapse the global oil prices, and how Saudi-Russia & Saudi-China relations go.

USA is unlikely to support toppling down strongmen again, so Tunisia, and Egypt are probably safe for now. Morocco is also an ally of USA, and is aligned with Qatar in being against Assad.

Saudi-Republican alignment will likely prefer to get rid of secularism in Asia, and Africa.

It will be very funny if this causes a mutually assured destruction situation, with both sides collapsing at the same time, similar to how USA's decline began after the collapse of USSR.

*****

The more immediate goal of convergence for all factions, of course, is North Caucasus. The Islamists in Syria largely get their support from Islamist factions from there, who despise Russia, and we know Ukrainian intelligence played an outstanding role in the current events in Syria.

USA needs the insurgency in the Caucasus to distract Russia from Ukraine-Belarus. Trump's potential detente with Russia is most likely going to be irrelevant in this, since most of the USA intelligence establishment views Trump either as illegitimate, or a dying old man, and can simply defect to USA's allies that will be willing to support the Islamists in the Caucasus.

USA does not support the Gulf states' ambitions in Central Asia, or South Asia for now, as the long term objective for Central Asian states is Euro-Atlantic integration, not reIslamisation.