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New U.S. speaker rallies support for Israel
The United States House of Representatives is back in business with the newly-elected Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, introducing a resolution supporting Israel in its war with Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The resolution passed with support from all but nine Democrats and just one Republican dissenter. The first successful act of Johnson signals a stable leadership despite being the least experienced speaker in the post Civil War era, having never chaired a committee or held a senior leadership role. “We all know that the world is in turmoil — but a strong America is good for the entire world,” Johnson told lawmakers after his election on Wednesday that ended the paralysis of Congress. Biden congratulated the new speaker and vowed to work with him, adding that the US now needed “to move swiftly to address our national security needs and to avoid a shutdown.” Ahead of the filing of the Israel resolution, the Louisiana congressman said in his acceptance speech that the bill is overdue as America’s “greatest ally in the Middle East is under attack.” The little-known ally of Donald Trump who spearheaded legal efforts to overturn the 2020 election won the unanimous support of his party to replace Kevin McCarthy who was ousted in a right-wing coup on 3 October. The post New U.S. speaker rallies support for Israel appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
The Israel-Hamas military balance
Israel has one of the best-resourced militaries in the world, heavily supported by Washington. In Hamas, it faces a highly trained armed group with powerful regional allies. With both sides poised for an Israeli ground offensive in the wake of the deadly attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October, here is an overview of their military resources. Israel The Israel Defense Forces number 169,500, of which 126,000 are army, according to Britain's International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). On top of that, it has 400,000 reservists, of which 360,000 have been mobilized since the Hamas attack. Israel also has some of the most technologically advanced defenses in the world, including the "Iron Dome" anti-missile system. IISS says it has around 1,300 tanks and other armored vehicles, 345 fighter jets, and a vast arsenal of artillery, drones, and state-of-the-art submarines. Though not a declared nuclear state, Israel's nuclear weapons cache is an open secret and the Arms Control Association puts its number of warheads at 90. US ally Washington provides $3.8 billion per year to Israel in military aid under a 10-year agreement running until 2028. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Sunday that he had activated deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and additional Patriot battalions "throughout the region". He added that he had put "an additional number of forces on prepare-to-deploy orders ... to increase their readiness and ability to quickly respond as required." Washington had already delivered increased munitions to Israel and deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean -- the USS Gerald Ford, the world's largest warship, and the USS Eisenhower -- to deter not just Hamas but also its allies Iran and the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah. The US military on Tuesday ordered 2,000 personnel to prepare for deployment to the Middle East as a show of force. Hamas Hamas has a diverse arsenal built up over many years. Its armed forces, called the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, numbers 15,000 men according to IISS, though it notes that Arab media have put the figure at 40,000. They have heavy weapons obtained from across the Middle East -- particularly Iran, Syria, and Libya -- and have also sourced handguns and assault rifles from China and other regions. It also has a variety of locally made, improvised explosives and Western sources say enough drones, mines, anti-tank guided missiles, grenade launchers, and mortar shells to hold out for a long period, though precise figures are unavailable. The majority of its rockets are also locally manufactured and technologically rudimentary. Hezbollah There have already been exchanges across the border between Israel and Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah is based. "Hezbollah can tie up IDF resources without having to fully commit to the fight, instead relying on occasional rocket or missile strikes to prevent the Israelis from growing complacent and forcing the IDF to commit manpower and materiel along the northern border," said the Soufan Center, a US think tank. In 2021, the group claimed to have 100,000 fighters. The Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank, says the number is half that. "Most Hezbollah militants are not full-time fighters but rather engage in militant activity as and when required by the group's commanders," according to Elliot Chapman of the British defense analysis firm Janes. Hezbollah mobilized 40,000 men at the outbreak of Syria's civil war, he noted. INSS says the group's arsenal counts 150,000 to 200,000 rockets and missiles, including "hundreds" of precision rockets. "Strategically, Hezbollah's rocket arsenal is the group's most significant capability for fighting Israel," Chapman said. Iran Since its Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran has made support for Palestinians one of the pillars of its ideology. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned Sunday that "The region is like a powderkeg ... I warn the United States and its proxy (Israel) that if they do not immediately stop the crime against humanity and genocide in Gaza, anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control". Western analysts minimize the threat of Iran becoming directly involved and point rather to its support from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Huthi rebels in Yemen -- a so-called "axis of resistance" of Israel's enemies. Raz Zimmt, of INSS, said Iran currently had "no interest in Hezbollah engaging in an all-out war" that might threaten such a key "strategic asset". But he added that Tehran's hand could be forced by "an Israeli ground invasion, and especially Israeli military success, which will threaten the very survival of Hamas and/or its ability to maintain effective control over the Gaza Strip". The post The Israel-Hamas military balance appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Tunnel warfare
When Marawi residents were finally allowed to check on their houses about seven months after the dust of battle had settled, they saw holes in the walls and tunnels underneath. This was in the so-called “most affected areas” or ground zero, which experienced the heaviest and most devastating bombardment in the 2017 Marawi siege. Initially, the residents did not know the significance of the holes and tunnels. Later, they learned that it was to facilitate the movement of the rebels from one building to another without being exposed on the roads that were being monitored using satellites and drones, courtesy of foreign countries. They could evade the modern penetrating binoculars and sophisticated war weapons that honed in on body heat. Tunnel or subterranean warfare is a feature of modern urban wars that we saw in the Vietnam war, the Syrian civil war, and the campaigns against the terrorist ISIS and similar groups. We are seeing it now in the Israel-Hamas conflict. In the Marawi war, the Maute-Abu Sayyaf Group took advantage of the labyrinth of sewers and canals that crisscrossed buildings underground. This could have been the reason for the protracted fighting, which brought government forces aided by modern technology and intelligence provided by countries like the United States five months to quell even if the rebels were clearly outnumbered and outgunned. In the basement of the Bato Ali Mosque, which was used as a temporary shelter cum headquarters of the rebels, there was a covered canal going down towards the Dansalan area where the wet market or padian was situated and where the other rebel forces were holding out. It was in this area that sniper bullets killed rebel leaders Omar Maute and Istilon Hapilon before dawn on 16 October 2017. The current war in the Middle East will not be a walk in the park for the Israeli forces. How do we deal with the network of tunnels that were dug before the wars between Israel and the Arabs that are now being used by Hamas? There are more than a thousand subterranean tunnels in Gaza alone. They connect to the countries surrounding Gaza. They were initially used by smugglers of illegal drugs and by human traffickers. They are now referred to as “terror tunnels.” They were dug so deep that even the most destructive bombs of Israel cannot destroy them. The Palestinians built tunnels beneath hospitals, schools, churches and mosques, which are not likely to be bombed. They were used to pull off the surprise attack on Israel on 7 October. The Middle East is full of these ancient tunnels and underground cavities because they were easy to construct under the desert sand and served as shelters from the sun’s scorching heat. The hostages taken by Hamas are likely being held in these tunnels, making it doubly hard for Israeli forces to find them. The other thing going for Hamas is its familiarity with the terrain. They could plant bombs and mines in the strategic entrances and exits to Gaza, or they could hide in the remaining buildings and rain down Molotov bombs on the invading tanks (Are Molotov bombs still effective against modern tanks? We saw unexploded Molotov bombs in our house in Marawi when we visited it for the first time). The siege of Gaza will not be a blitzkrieg — it will be protracted and hard-fought because of these mines. Meanwhile, world pressure is on Israel and the US to respect the United Nations’ rules of engagement and avoid hitting non-combatants, women, and children. NATO, in fact, has called for “proportionality” when Israel attacks Gaza. amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com. The post Tunnel warfare appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Celebrated Syrian author Khaled Khalifa dead at 59
Syrian writer and veteran government critic Khaled Khalifa has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 59 at his home in Damascus, a close friend told AFP. Khalifa, who hailed from Maryamin in northwestern Aleppo province, was celebrated for his novels, television screenplays, and newspaper columns, and honored with several of the Arab world's top literary awards. He "died in his home alone in Damascus" on Saturday, said journalist Yaroub Aleesa, who had spent time with the author during his final days. "We called him repeatedly and he didn't respond. When we went to his home, we found him dead on the sofa." Doctors at the Abbassiyyin Hospital in Damascus said the cause of death was a heart attack. Khalifa gained fame as a writer of several popular Syrian TV series in the early 1990s. He was known as a staunch opponent of the ruling Baath party and his columns criticizing the authorities. But despite his well-known stance, he chose to remain in the country after the 2011 civil war broke out with the repression of protests against the government. "I am staying because this is my country," he said in a 2019 interview. "I was born here, I live here and I want to die here!" His 2006 novel "In Praise of Hatred" was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arab Fiction -- often dubbed the Arab Booker Prize -- and was translated into six languages. The novel recounts the story of a young Syrian woman from Aleppo who escapes her sequestered life by joining a jihadist organization. In 2013, his novel "No Knives in the Kitchens of this City" won the Naguib Mahfouz Literature Prize, Egypt's top accolade for writers. It focuses on the lives of Syrians under the rule of the Baath party headed by President Bashar al-Assad. The writer's death sparked a wave of condolences on social media from fellow writers and members of Syria's exiled opposition. "Goodbye, you kind man," wrote Syrian writer and academic Salam Kawakibi. Khalifa was expected to be buried later on Sunday in Damascus, though details of the funeral had yet to be disclosed. The post Celebrated Syrian author Khaled Khalifa dead at 59 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Drones target Ukraine’s Odesa region ahead of grain talks
Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) — Russia carried out a “massive” drone attack targeting Ukraine’s Odesa region, Ukrainian officials said Monday, damaging a grain export hub on the Danube river. The strikes came hours before a summit in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes to revive a grain deal Moscow exited in July aiming to safeguard Ukraine’s Black Sea exports. “Seventeen drones were shot down by our air defense forces,” regional governor Oleg Kiper wrote on Telegram, adding there were no civilian casualties. “But, unfortunately, there are also hits,” he said. “In several settlements of Izmail district, warehouses and production buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment of industrial enterprises were damaged.” The Danube river port of Izmail, which borders NATO member Romania, has become a main export route for Ukrainian products following Russia’s withdrawal from the UN-brokered grain deal. Ukraine’s military said Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed drones in the “massive” overnight attack, which “was directed at the civil infrastructure of the area of the Danube.” The strikes come a day after Ukraine fought off a barrage of Russian drones in the same region, with Russia’s army saying Sunday it had targeted fuel storage facilities in the Danube port town of Reni. Also on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he was replacing Kyiv’s defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov, calling for “new approaches” a year and a half into Russia’s invasion. Zelensky has nominated Rustem Umerov, who has been head of the State Property Fund since last year, to replace Reznikov — subject to approval by Ukraine’s parliament. Umerov, a leading member of the Crimean Tatar community, has represented his country in sensitive negotiations with Russia. Earlier on Monday, Russia said it destroyed four Ukrainian military boats carrying troops in the Black Sea. “Naval aviation aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed 4 ‘Willard Sea Force’ US-made high-speed military boats with landing groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Russia’s defense ministry said on Telegram. The post Drones target Ukraine’s Odesa region ahead of grain talks appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
The legal woes of Donald Trump
Former US president Donald Trump is facing four criminal indictments, all filed since March -- with the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 White House race possibly navigating a series of trials as he campaigns. On Thursday, he was formally arrested on 13 counts in the southern state of Georgia in connection with his alleged efforts to interfere with the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has already been indicted in federal court in connection with election interference in multiple states, and over his handling of classified documents, making him the first former US president to face federal criminal charges. The twice-impeached Trump has also been charged in New York with making election-eve hush money payments to a porn star. Here are the key cases involving the 77-year-old one-term president -- and others that could materialize: Georgia election meddling Trump stands accused in Georgia of pressuring state officials to overturn Biden's election victory -- incidents that were also referred to in a federal indictment. Evidence includes a taped phone call in which he asked Georgia's then-secretary of state to "find" enough votes to reverse the result. Fulton County's top prosecutor Fani Willis has charged Trump with 13 felony counts including violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as six conspiracy counts over alleged efforts to commit forgery, impersonate a public official and submit false statements and documents. Eighteen co-defendants also were indicted, including Trump's former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, for pressuring local legislators over the result after the election, and Trump's White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. 2020 election interference Special Counsel Jack Smith had already slapped Trump with four federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, as well as conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of an official proceeding -- the January 6, 2021, meeting of a joint session of Congress held to certify Biden's election victory. He is also charged with conspiracy to deny Americans the right to vote and to have one's vote counted. The indictment mentions six co-conspirators but none are identified -- Trump, currently the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is the only named defendant. Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress met to certify the presidential election results. Before what was ultimately a deadly attack, Trump delivered a fiery speech urging the crowd to "fight like hell." Classified documents Trump, in another indictment brought by Smith, is accused of endangering national security by holding onto top secret nuclear and defense documents after leaving the White House. Trump kept the files -- which included records from the Pentagon, CIA, and National Security Agency -- unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and thwarted official efforts to retrieve them, according to the indictment. Trump was initially charged with 31 counts of "willful retention of national defense information," each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A count was added related to a classified document "concerning military activity in a foreign country." He also faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and other offenses. The federal judge in the case has set a trial date of May 20, 2024, at the height of the presidential campaign. Stormy A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March over alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors say the money was paid prior to the 2016 election to silence Daniels over claims she had a tryst with Trump in 2006 -- a year after he married Melania Trump. Late in the campaign, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a payment of $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her pledge of confidentiality, prosecutors said. That case, in which he faces 34 felony counts, is due to go to trial next March, in the middle of the Republican primary election season. Other probes Trump was found liable in a civil case for sexually abusing and defaming a former magazine columnist, E. Jean Carroll, in 1996, and ordered to pay her $5 million in damages. In New York, state Attorney General Letitia James has filed a civil suit against Trump and three of his children, accusing them of fraud by over-valuing assets to secure loans and then under-valuing them to minimize taxes. James is seeking $250 million in penalties as well as banning Trump and his children from serving as executives at companies in the city. Trump has denied all wrongdoing. The post The legal woes of Donald Trump appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
North Korean hackers target war games
South Korea’s police said Sunday that it foiled attempts by North Korean hackers to gather information about its war games with the United States. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said its investigation of the hacking with help from the US military found that the Internet Protocol address used in the latest attack pointed to North Korean group dubbed Kimsuky. The same IP address was linked to a 2014 hack against South Korea’s nuclear reactor operator, according to the GNPPA. Kimsuky carried out “spearphishing” or “continuous malicious email attacks” on South Korean contractors working at the allies’ simulation center for the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield drills. Sent emails have malicious attachments intended to exfiltrate desired information from victims. The war games start on Monday and will run through 31 August. It aims to counter growing threats from the nuclear-armed North. Pyongyang views such exercises as rehearsals for an invasion and has repeatedly warned it would take “overwhelming” action in response. The UFS exercise is based on an all-out war scenario and features various contingency drills, such as the computer simulation-based command post exercise, concurrent field training and Ulchi civil defense drills, Yonhap reported. The drills include scenarios to train troops to swiftly transition into wartime as well as to respond to false information possibly spread by Pyongyang during wartime or a contingency, according to the South Korean news agency. In addition to the allies’ Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine personnel, US space forces will also partake in the drills, according to the US Forces Korea. Personnel from nine member countries of the United Nations Command also will join the exercise, namely Australia, Canada, France, Britain, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand, Yonhap said. According to findings by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in 2020, Kimsuky is “most likely tasked by the North Korean regime with a global intelligence gathering mission.” The group — believed to be active since 2012 — targets individuals and organizations in South Korea, Japan, and the US, focusing on foreign policy and national security issues related to the Korean peninsula, nuclear policy, and sanctions, it added. WITH AFP The post North Korean hackers target war games appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Phl downgrades Libya crisis alert level
The Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday placed Libya under Crisis Alert Level 3, downgrading its previous alert level for the war-torn African nation. In a statement, the DFA said the decision which makes the repatriation of Filipinos voluntary stemmed from significant improvements in the country in the past four years. “It is noted that Libya, despite the political divide between the East and the West, is currently not under a full-blown external attack from either side,” the DFA said. “Conflicts in Libya, since 2019, are localized, sporadic, and targeted at combatants, which are not features of a large-scale civil conflict, but rather of low-intensity conflicts,” it added. The Philippines raised crisis alert level 4 for Libya in 2019 due to the political unrest in the country, making the repatriation of Filipinos there mandatory. The DFA said there are a total of 2,300 overseas Filipino workers in Libya, who “perceive the country as safe and secure.” “This perception of safety is grounded on the fact that most of the OFWs remaining in Libya are veterans of conflict, having survived the civil wars of 2011 and 2014-2020, and the fight with the Daesh that accompanied the civil wars, and have thus adapted to the instability in the country,” the DFA said. The post Phl downgrades Libya crisis alert level appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Phl downgrades crisis alert level in Libya
The Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday placed Libya under a single Crisis Alert Level 3, downgrading its crisis alert level to the war-torn African nation. In a statement, the DFA explained that the decision which makes repatriation for Filipinos there voluntary was made after noting significant improvements in the country in the past four years. “It is noted that Libya, despite the political divide between the East and the West, is currently not under a full-blown external attack from both sides,” the agency said. “Conflicts in Libya, since 2019, are localized, sporadic, and targeted at combatants, which are not features of a large-scale civil conflict, but rather of low-intensity conflicts,” it added. The Philippines raised the crisis alert level 4 to Libya in 2019 due to political unrest in the country, making repatriation for Filipinos there mandatory. The DFA said there are a total of 2,300 overseas Filipino workers in Libya, who “perceive the country as safe and secure.” “This perception of safety is grounded on the fact that most of the OFWs remaining in Libya are veterans of the conflict, having survived the civil wars of 2011 and 2014-2020, and the fight with the Daesh that accompanied the civil wars, and have thus adapted to the instability in the country,” the agency said. The post Phl downgrades crisis alert level in Libya appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Six white US police officers admit torturing Black men
Six white Mississippi police officers tortured two innocent Black men using a sex toy, Tasers and a sword in an hours-long attack that ended with one man shot through the mouth and neck, the US Department of Justice said Thursday. The brutal assault, and its subsequent cover-up in which the men left one victim bleeding as they hid evidence of their crimes, is the latest race-tinged stain on US policing. "The defendants in this case tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims, egregiously violated the civil rights of citizens who they were supposed to protect, and shamefully betrayed the oath they swore as law enforcement officers," said Attorney General Merrick Garland. Five now-former members of Mississippi's Rankin County Sheriff's Department and one former member of the Richland Police Department pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple charges including civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law and obstruction of justice. All six acknowledged that while responding to a report of suspicious activity on January 24 this year, they kicked in a door at a house and began a sustained and unprovoked attack on two Black men there. They handcuffed the men and racially abused them, warning them to "stay out of Rankin County," the DoJ said. "The defendants punched and kicked the men, tased them 17 times, forced them to ingest liquids, and assaulted them with a dildo," a press release said. They also hit one man multiple times with a metal sword and a wooden kitchen implement, the DoJ said. Deputy Hunter Elward, 31, removed a bullet from the chamber of his gun and forced his weapon into one man's mouth before pulling the trigger. "Elward racked the slide, intending to dry-fire a second time. When Elward pulled the trigger, the gun discharged. The bullet lacerated (the victim's) tongue, broke his jaw and exited out of his neck," the DoJ said. As their critically injured victim lay bleeding, the men set about planting evidence to justify their actions. "Remarkably, the victim survived the shooting even though these defendants left him lying on the floor gushing blood for a considerable amount of time... because they were too busy developing a false story to try and cover up their misconduct," prosecutor Kristen Clarke told reporters. "The actions of these defendants not only caused significant physical, emotional and psychological harm to the victims, but also caused harm to the entire community, who feel they cannot trust the police officers who are supposed to serve them and leaving other police officers to try to mend the communal wounds inflicted by these defendants," said Clarke. "This trauma is magnified because the misconduct was fueled by racial bias and hatred." Elward, Brett McAlpin, 52, Christian Dedmon, 28, Jeffrey Middleton, 46, Daniel Opdyke, 27 and Joshua Hartfield, 31, pleaded guilty to all charges against them. Dedmon, Elward, and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three other felony charges stemming from another episode of brutality against a white man in December. All six are due to be sentenced November 14. Horrifying episodes of police abuses against minorities in the United States burst into the public consciousness with unwelcome frequency, with victims like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor symbols of what critics say is wrong with the US model of law enforcement. The post Six white US police officers admit torturing Black men appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Worker rights abused amid cost-of-living crisis: unions
Workers in nine out of 10 countries have seen their right to strike violated over the past year as they battle the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, the International Trade Union Confederation warned Friday. A decade after launching its first annual Global Rights Index, the ITUC said the results for 2023 provided "a sobering confirmation of its founding purpose". Eighty-seven percent of the 149 countries reviewed in the index violated the right to strike between April 2022 and March 2023, the union group said. Seventy-nine percent of countries violated the right to collective bargaining, with companies for instance refusing to comply with collective agreements or rejecting established trade unions, it added. "As workers have felt the full force of a cost-of-living crisis, governments have cracked down on their rights to collectively negotiate wage rises and take strike action against employer and government indifference to the impacts of spiralling inflation upon working people," the union group said in a report. Ecuador and Tunisia were highlighted by the IUTC, joining its list of the 10 worst countries for workers in 2023. Mass protests in Ecuador for democracy and collective rights were brutally repressed, it said. "In Tunisia, President Kais Saied has continued to tighten his hold on power, undermining workers’ civil liberties and democratic institutions," it added. Nineteen trade unionists around the world have been murdered, compared to 17 in the previous comparable period. Luc Triangle, the ITUC's acting general secretary, said this year saw an "urgent need for action" by unions as workers are slammed by rising costs in the aftermath of the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, the index shows "a steady attack on workers who dare to demand fair pay for their labour", he said, adding this was seen "across economic and geographical regions". "Politicians have continued to hold wages down, have refused to honour negotiations with unions, have restricted strike action and have attempted to quash protests claiming that a wage-price spiral must be avoided," Triangle said in the foreword to the index. Many countries are grappling with cost-of-living crises because wages are not keeping up with inflation prompting central banks to raise interest rates to try to tame the rise in prices. The post Worker rights abused amid cost-of-living crisis: unions appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Family attack TikTok amateur sleuths after UK woman’s ‘accidental’ death
A British woman whose mystery disappearance earlier this year sparked a social media frenzy by online sleuths and conspiracy theorists fell into a river and drowned accidentally, a coroner concluded at an inquest on Tuesday. Nicola Bulley went missing in January, apparently vanishing "into thin air". After dropping her two young daughters at school she was seen walking her dog along a river in the rural village of St Michael's on Wyre in northwestern England. The 45-year-old mortgage adviser's phone was later found on a bench still dialed into a work conference call. Her unexplained disappearance saw the online true crime world become awash with speculation about what might have happened to her. One TikTok user even had himself filmed digging up potential burial sites and then captured the moment Bulley's body was pulled from reeds in the river over three weeks later. But ruling that her death had been accidental, coroner James Adeley said she had suffered "cold water shock" after going into the river. He said the exact circumstances of how she fell in could not be known, but evidence showed there had been a steep grassy slope around the bench with an "almost vertical drop" to the water. The river bank itself had no footholds that would have allowed someone in trouble to climb out, he added at the hearing in Preston, northwestern England. In addition, the flow of the river on the day she disappeared would have made it almost impossible to swim against the current, he said. After the hearing, Bulley's family hit out at the social media speculation over her case. "It's upsetting that we've continued to receive negative targeted messages and still witness wildly inaccurate speculation being shared over numerous platforms," the family's lawyer Terry Wilcox said in a statement on their behalf. "We encourage people to look at the facts, the evidence which has been heard during the inquest, and the conclusion reached by the coroner, to ignore any amateur views and opinions, and be mindful of the impact words bring." Detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables of Lancashire Police said she hoped the coroner's finding would "put an end to ill-informed speculation and conspiracy theories which have been so damaging to Nikki's family". Lancashire Police were criticized over their handling of Bulley's disappearance, including sharing personal information such as her struggles with alcohol and perimenopause. But the police watchdog said in May that they would face no further action. Coroners' inquests are held in England and Wales to try to establish the causes and circumstances of sudden or unexplained deaths based on the balance of probability. They do not determine criminal or civil liability but set out facts in the public interest. The post Family attack TikTok amateur sleuths after UK woman’s ‘accidental’ death appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Key events in the war in Ukraine
From the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February last year to the armed rebellion Saturday of the pro-Kremlin Wagner paramilitary group, here is a timeline of the main events. The biggest attack on a European country since World War II has killed or wounded over 150,000 people, according to Western estimates. February 2022: invasion Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a "special military operation" in Ukraine on 24 February, saying he wants to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" the country as well as protect the predominantly Russian-speaking east from "genocide". A full-scale invasion starts, with missile strikes on several Ukrainian cities that sparks a refugee crisis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stays in the capital Kyiv to lead the resistance. The West imposes unprecedented sanctions on Russia and the European Union and United States send Ukraine weapons and aid. March: Russian advances Russian forces make gains in the south, seizing the city of Kherson, close to the Moscow-annexed Crimea peninsula. Russian forces also attempt to surround Kyiv and take Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv in the northeast but meet fierce resistance. A month into the fighting, Russia withdraws from the north to focus on the eastern industrial Donbas region, partly held by Moscow-backed separatists, along with the south. April: war crimes revealed In early April, AFP discovers the bodies of at least 20 civilians lying on a single street in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha -- the first of several grisly discoveries in towns that Russian forces had occupied which spark an international outcry and war crimes investigations. May: Mariupol falls On 21 May, Russia announces the fall of the southeastern port city of Mariupol, which had been relentlessly bombed, after the last Ukrainian troops holding out at a steelworks surrender. Sweden and Finland request membership of NATO, fearing they could be future targets of Russian aggression. June: Donbas battle rages In June, Russia takes the Donbas city of Severodonetsk after one of the bloodiest battles of the war, followed soon after by the neighbouring city of Lysychansk. July: gas supplies cut On 22 July, Kyiv and Moscow sign a deal to resume grain exports from Ukraine, in a bid to relieve a food crisis aggravated by Russia's blockade of the country's ports. Russian gas giant Gazprom slashes its supply to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline, fuelling fears of gas shortages in Europe. August: battle for Bakhmut Kyiv launches a major offensive to retake Kherson as a bitter battle begins for the eastern town of Bakhmut, spearheaded on the Russian side by the Wagner mercenary group. Wagner claims to have wrested total control of Bakhmut in May. September: annexation Ukraine retakes hundreds of towns and villages in a lightning counter-offensive around Kharkiv. Putin launches a partial draft of 300,000 reservists, sparking an exodus of young Russian men of military age. On 30 September, he formally annexes the Ukrainian regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. October: power supply hit On 8 October, an explosion causes major damage to a bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland -- a symbol of Moscow's annexation of the peninsula. Putin blames Ukrainian secret services for the attack. Russian forces retaliate with a barrage of strikes on energy infrastructure in Kyiv and other cities, leaving millions without power in what becomes its new modus operandi throughout the winter. November: retreat from Kherson On 9 November, Moscow orders its troops to retreat from Kherson in the face of advancing Ukrainian forces, marking a stunning defeat in one of the regions it annexed. Jubilant residents hail Ukrainian forces as liberators. December: Zelensky goes to Washington On 22 December, Zelensky visits Washington on his first overseas trip since the war began. He meets President Joe Biden and addresses Congress. January 2023: tanks on the way Russia suffers its biggest single loss of life since the invasion in a Ukrainian attack on a temporary base in the eastern town of Makiivka on 1 January. Moscow says 89 soldiers were killed in the hit. On 25 January, Germany finally agrees to send Ukraine some of its powerful Leopard tanks. The United States follows, announcing that it will provide 31 Abrams tanks. On 19 May, Biden authorises the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv. In April, Ukraine also receives anti-missile Patriot defence systems from Washington. 6 June: dam destroyed A blast at the Kakhovka dam in Russian-annexed Crimea inundates vast areas of the Kherson region, forcing thousands to flee and sparking fears of an environmental disaster. Kyiv accuses Moscow of blowing up the dam on the Dnipro River, while Russia blames Ukraine. June: Ukraine counter-offensive A long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive begins, aided by the supply of Western arms, according to analysts. Russia brands it a failure but Kyiv says it has retaken several areas. 24 June: Wagner rebellion Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, leading a mutiny to bring down Moscow's top brass, says his fighters have captured the army HQ in Russia's Rostov-on-Don "without firing a single shot" and claims to have the support of locals. Putin warns that treason against his rule threatens Russia with civil war and accuses the Wagner boss of a "stab in the back". The post Key events in the war in Ukraine appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Alive
A Cessna 206 light aircraft with seven people on board recently crashed in the Amazon jungle in Colombia. Three people were confirmed dead; four, missing. This had not been big news until 9 June, when the authorities declared that they found the four passengers in the search effort. Surprisingly, 40 days after the plane crashed in the jungle, the four siblings (aged 13, nine, four and one) were exhausted, dehydrated and malnourished, but otherwise “fully conscious and lucid”. It is astonishing how these four children survived in the wild for more than a month, considering their age and the fact that the older kids had to take care of their younger sibs. Gen. Pedro Sánchez, who led the search operation, told NBC News that the children’s survival was down to three factors. “First, the wish to maintain their lives. Second, they are indigenous people, so they have immunity to so many hazards in the jungle,” he said. “Third, they know the jungle.” The children’s father, who did not board the aircraft with his family, said that, according to his 13-year-old daughter, their mother had been alive for four days after the crash, but she told her kids to leave and find help as she laid dying. It was revealed that the children ate cassava flour in the beginning but when they eventually ran out of food, 13-year-old Lesly led her younger brother and sisters to find what they could eat in the forest, such as seeds and fruits, because she knows what are poisonous and what are not. Moreover, Lesly built makeshift shelters from branches held together with her hair ties, and they hid in tree trunks to protect themselves in an area filled with snakes, animals and mosquitoes. In addition to avoiding wild animals, the children also endured intense rainstorms and might have had to evade armed groups said to be active in the jungle. Unfortunately, Wilson, a Belgian shepherd which helped in the search and rescue of the little siblings, went missing during the mission Dozens of soldiers remained in the jungle on the search for Wilson. Military officials and the children’s family believe Wilson encountered the kids independently during the search efforts. In Lesly’s drawing, a dog is playing near a tree and a stream as the sun shines. In her sister Soleiny’s, a dog sits beside a large flower under the sun. On social media, netizens are pleading for Wilson’s safe return. The Colombian military spokesperson said: “We have a saying, ‘we never leave an element behind,’ even less, the four children; we would not leave Wilson.” The story of the four kids who survived in the jungle is truly marvelous and inspiring. In Taiwan, due to geopolitical tension, a new Civil Defence Contingency Handbook prepares civilians for air raids, major fires, collapsing structures, power outages, as well as shortage of water and essential goods. The pamphlet lists nearby air-raid shelters and hospitals and explains what to include in the survival kits should a war break out. According to the South China Morning Post, the handbook uses “international situations, including the Ukraine war, as references”. Civilians are advised how to react when directly confronted by enemies, when to report suspicious activities in the neighborhood to authorities, how to identify disinformation, and what to do if a major communication system is knocked out of service. The pamphlet also provides instructions on safety measures to take if Taiwan comes under attack by missiles or nuclear bombs, and ways to avoid being exposed to radiation from missile explosions or attacks of the island’s nuclear power plants. The post Alive appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Give LPE a chance
Newly appointed Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro made a deeply rooted statement about the peace talks between the Philippine government and communist rebels that have dragged on for several decades, with intermittent periods of very little progress and setbacks. Without mincing words, Teodoro said he had always been against entering into peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army. This is equally consistent with his position that communist rebels are welcome to return to the government fold given an existing program that offers “to help them, rehabilitate them and give them a new life.” Why is this so? For Teodoro, why engage in peace talks when there is Task Force Balik-Loob — a central coordinating body created by Administrative Order No. 10 dated 3 April 2018 that supervises the government’s reintegration efforts for members of the CPP-NPA-NDF, including their immediate family members. The task force is composed of representatives from the DND, DILG, OPAPRU, and other partner government agencies. I couldn’t agree with the Defense Secretary more. In a recent television interview, he said he was never convinced that the Philippine insurgency — the longest-running in Asia — was ideological. His explanation was clear. “This is all about taking power or whatever. The reason, even in other countries, the sole authority of the Communist Party in other countries is a dictatorship in itself. They call it the dictatorship of the proletariat.” We have in front of us a duplicity of the communist agenda — a pro-people advocacy on one hand, and the overthrow of the government on the other. The history of the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front, CPP’s political wing, is long and complex spanning several decades. When Corazon C. Aquino assumed the presidency after the People Power Revolution in 1986, peace talks were initiated and detained top communist leaders, including Jose Maria Sison and Bernabe Buscayno, were released. Since then, there have been several attempts at peace negotiations between the government and the Reds, facilitated by third-party mediators, including the Catholic Church, various civil society groups, and foreign governments. The most recent attempt at peace talks was in 2016 during the first year in office of then-President Rodrigo Duterte. It, however, broke down in 2017 after both sides accused the other of violating the ceasefire agreement. Duterte, exasperated by the insincerity, formally terminated the peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA in 2018 through Proclamation 360. Despite this, there have been sporadic calls for the resumption of the peace talks, particularly from civil society groups and the international community. More than 40 rounds of peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF since 1986 proved futile, marred by spoilers who used violence to attack the peace process. Or were these attempts aimed at forcing their way into negotiations, and alter a process so that their demands would be included in a settlement? Opinions vary, often dependent on political, social, and ideological perspectives. While some people argue that pursuing peace talks is the best way to end the decades-long armed insurgency, others are skeptical about the prospects as evidenced by the little willingness to negotiate in good faith, human rights violations, coupled with unreasonable and unrealistic demands. Peace is a priority for more than 110 million Filipinos who hope to see an end to the decades-long insurgency in the country. If top-level negotiated settlements fail, there is the Localized Peace Engagement or LPE — a viable alternative solution to the armed conflict. Introduced by the national government in 2017 after the breakdown of the peace negotiations with the Reds, let us give this community-based approach to peacebuilding a chance. After all, who wouldn’t want to address the underlying social, economic, and political grievances that fuel armed conflicts? The post Give LPE a chance appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
10 people killed in clash with Mexico police
A highway gun attack on security forces in northern Mexico left 10 people dead on Monday, authorities said. "Civil Force personnel were attacked with bullets by subjects who were traveling aboard three armored trucks," Nuevo Leon Public Security Secretary Gerardo Palacios wrote on Facebook. Ten criminal suspects were killed and four officers injured, he added. The attack took place along a highway between Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas states, a region hit by violence connected to organized crime. Roads between the two states have been the scenes of kidnappings, disappearances and robberies. Mexico has counted more than 340,000 killings and some 100,000 disappearances -- most attributed to organized criminal gangs -- since the launch of the government's controversial anti-drug operation in 2006. The post 10 people killed in clash with Mexico police appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Typhoon Mawar leaves trail of destruction as it moves from Guam
A typhoon that slammed into Guam, knocking out power and flooding buildings with a powerful storm surge, was moving away Thursday -- leaving residents of the US Pacific Ocean territory to survey the damage. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero was set to venture out when conditions allow to see what damage has been wrought on the island, a key US military outpost and home to 170,000 people. The governor and civil defense groups will look for "any major damages or blocked roadways in the wake of Typhoon Mawar," a statement said Thursday. "As Guam received the full brunt of the typhoon overnight, the assessment will help determine what damages may have occurred." Mawar brought winds of up to 225 kilometers (140 miles) an hour, the US National Weather Service reported, generating waves nine meters (30 feet) high. There were no reported deaths or injuries. At one of the island's many hotels, the 30-floor Dusit Thani Guam Resort housing about 300 guests, desk clerk Casey Hattori said the lobby was inundated with a foot of water, even with the front door barricaded with boards and bags of concrete. Outside, trees snapped in howling wind. "I can hear the walls shaking. The wind is super strong. I can hear it whistling as it comes through the cracks of the doors," Hattori told AFP. Fearful tourists were evacuated from flooded rooms to a sixth floor ballroom, she said. Images on social media showed the impact of winds that had uprooted trees, swept away vehicles and dislodged roofs, throwing debris everywhere. Tens of thousands of homes were without power Thursday, the Guam Power Authority said, but noted that a total blackout had been avoided. "We are working hard to maintain the last remaining customers through the storm, which contributes to quicker recovery after the winds die down later tonight or in the early morning hours," the agency said, according to the Pacific Daily News. The NWS said Mawar was now a Super Typhoon, and forecasting models suggested it was heading towards Taiwan or the Philippines. "As sunlight is starting to peek, we are waking up to a rather disturbing scene out there across Guam," one forecaster said during a morning update Thursday. "We are looking out our door and what used to be a jungle looks like toothpicks. It looks like a scene from the movie 'Twister,' with trees just thrashed apart." The agency said Guam remained under a typhoon warning, with destructive gusts and heavy surf expected. Ocean conditions are still treacherous, even for large vessels, it said. "Residents are urged to stay off the roads and remain in safe, hardened shelters" for now, emergency officials warned. In Washington, the White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation. "The White House is in close contact with the government of Guam and has offered as much support as needed," a spokeswoman said. About 21,700 US military personnel and their families are based on Guam, which routinely hosts nuclear attack submarines and long-range bombers. The territory is also home to key electronic listening posts, and the US bases have some of the Pacific region's most significant ammunition and fuel storage facilities. Lieutenant Commander Katie Koenig, spokesperson for Joint Region Marianas said military aircraft and ships departed before the destructive winds began or were sheltered in hangars, "except for one vessel which remains in port due to an inoperable engine." Koenig added that all military and civilian personnel were instructed to take shelter. "Our service members throughout the Marianas routinely exercise natural disaster response and are ready and postured to respond... once the 'all clear' order is given," she said. The post Typhoon Mawar leaves trail of destruction as it moves from Guam appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Mother’s justice cry
Jonash Bondoc, a Philippine Merchant Marine Academy cadet, died from alleged fatal punches in a fistfight with a schoolmate in July 2021. His mother, however, believes Jonash did not die due to a fistfight, but was a victim of hazing. Gracelyn Gimang Bondoc, the mother of the victim, is now seeking the intervention of the Commission on Higher Education to issue a preventive suspension against the president of the PMMA, Commodore Joel Abutal and his chief of staff, Ensign Chuck de la Cruz. She also sought the filing of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of public service pursuant to the 2017 rule on administrative cases in civil service. In a 6-page administrative complaint received at the Commission on Higher Education or CHEd office last 18 May, obtained by the Daily Tribune, Bondoc narrated that she received the bad news last 6 July 2021 that her son Jonash died. “After receiving the sad news, we went to PMMA to see my son. However, I was only allowed to see his remains on 8 July 2021, wherein we only saw his face and were not allowed to go near him since he allegedly had Covid-19,” she narrated, adding that Jonash was immediately cremated due to his health circumstances. Fall guy? She said on 7 July, a certain Jomel Gloria was charged with homicide after executing an Extra Judicial Confession admitting his culpability for the crime to support the scenario that Jonash’s death was the result of a fistfight. On 8 December 2022, the Regional Trial Court Branch 71 of Iba, Zambales promulgated its decision finding Gloria guilty of homicide, due to his admission that he punched the victim Jonash twice in the chest, causing his instant death. After his conviction, Gloria was released through provisional liberty pending his appeal or any remedy available to him after posting an additional bond of P60,000. But as Bondoc doubted the reason given for his son’s death, the mother secured a copy of a medico-legal report from the Zambales Provincial Crime Laboratory Office, and she found out that his son suffered multiple contusions and hematomas in his neck and head. After his conviction, Gloria was released through provisional liberty pending his appeal or any remedy available to him after posting an additional bond of P60,000. “Thus, we arrived at the conclusion that the injuries my son suffered are not commensurate with the attack made and as narrated by the accused Jomel and we believe that the same is not committed by one person by merely punching Jonash twice in the chest,” according to Bondoc. Mystery from top Another mystery is that the respondents being the highest official of PMMA did not investigate the possibility of a hazing incident, as it was not “a secret that there is hazing in PMMA.” Because of the purported extra judicial confession, the authorities including the respondents zeroed in as a suspect of the crime, the person of accused Jomel, leaving others scot-free and maintaining their position in PMMA without any worry whatsoever.” “Obviously, the foregoing showed that the act of respondents constitutes an obstruction of justice or violation of Presidential Decree 1829, which is tantamount to grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the public service,” the letter of Bondoc to the CHEd said. In an interview with the Daily Tribune, the lawyer of Bondoc, Atty. Banjo Lucman said they want CHEd commissioner Prospero de Vera III to “act swiftly on their request” to put Commodore Abutal under preventive suspension for his command responsibility, as well as for CHEd to reinvestigate the alleged whitewash that resulted in the demise of a PMMA cadet. The post Mother’s justice cry appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Drones attack Ukraine as leader visits Japan
Kyiv faced and repelled a new wave of Russian drone attack on Saturday as Ukraine’s leader attended a Group of Seven summit in Japan to solicit weapons. The head of the Ukrainian capital’s civil and military administration, Serhiy Popko, said on Telegram that air defenders destroyed the drones and prevented strikes in the city. Falling debris from drones blasted in the sky caused a fire in a residential building in Darnytskyi district but it was extinguished without casualties, Popko said. Debris also caused some damage in three other districts, he said, but there was no immediate report of casualties. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is aiming to win delivery of F-16 fighter jets from the United States and its other G7 allies when he personally meet their leaders in Hiroshima. Zelensky arrived in the city devastated by an atomic bomb during World War II on Saturday afternoon aboard a French plane, a diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse. Earlier, US President Joe Biden told G7 leaders already in Japan that Washington would now support the request of Zelensky for F-16s and long-range weapons to fight Russian invaders. Japan’s foreign ministry said Zelensky would participate in Ukraine talks with G7 leaders on Sunday, as well as a session on “peace and stability” that will also include invited non-member countries. The Ukrainian president will also meet one-on-one with leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The post Drones attack Ukraine as leader visits Japan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
FBI routinely accessed Americans’ private communications
The FBI frequently abused a restricted database of Americans' personal communications, looking up the names of crime victims and participants in Black Lives Matter protests and the 2021 Capitol assault, documents released Friday showed. The Federal Bureau of Investigation accessed the database 278,000 times in recent years with often no justification, according to declassified opinions from the secretive Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court. The database includes private emails, text messages, and other communications that the National Security Agency says it sweeps up when it is spying on foreigners. Although the FBI is supposed to tap the NSA database only when investigating a foreign intelligence issue, the court opinions showed they used it casually for domestic cases. Agents ran random searches in domestic drug and gang investigations, the 2020 protest over the police murder of African American George Floyd, and the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Donald Trump supporters. In one case an agent ran a query into the database on 19,000 donors to a congressional election campaign. In each of the cases, there was no foreign intelligence or domestic crime justification for the FBI accessing the database, the intelligence court said. The documents were released as Congress debates the renewal of Section 702, a law that allows the NSA to access US-hosted internet accounts to surveil foreign intelligence targets. A number of lawmakers say it needs revision to better protect the personal information of Americans. Intelligence agencies worry that could crimp their activities, but legal rights experts and Democrats said the revelations showed reforms are needed. "The government has dramatically expanded its spying under Section 702 in ways never contemplated by Congress, but it's refusing to tell Americans what it's doing," said Patrick Toomey of the Americans Civil Liberties Union. Senator Ron Wyden, a longtime critic of Section 702, said the intelligence court documents showed "shocking abuses" of the law. "If Section 702 is to be reauthorized, there must be statutory reforms to ensure that the checks and balances are in place to put an end to these abuses," Wyden said. The issue arose nearly two decades ago when the US intelligence community realized it needed to tap into the email and phone accounts of foreign intelligence targets that were hosted on US-based computers. Both the NSA and the CIA are forbidden from spying on Americans or on foreigners inside the United States, so in 2008 Congress passed Section 702 to permit the NSA to access those US-hosted accounts. In doing so the NSA also collects emails and phone messages of US citizens and resident foreigners who communicate with the agency's targets, or even mention an NSA target. The post FBI routinely accessed Americans’ private communications appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»