Intelligence agencies concluded that granting Ukraine’s request to use Western missiles against targets deep in Russia could prompt forceful retaliation while not fundamentally changing the course of the war.
U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Russia is likely to retaliate with greater force against the United States and its coalition partners, possibly with lethal attacks, if they agree to give the Ukrainians permission to employ U.S., British and French-supplied long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia, U.S. officials said.
The intelligence assessment, which has not been previously reported, also plays down the effect that the long-range missiles will have on the course of the conflict because the Ukrainians currently have limited numbers of the weapons and it is unclear how many more, if any, the Western allies might provide.
. . .
The findings may help explain in part why the decision has been so difficult for Mr. Biden to make, and show the internal pressures on him to say no to Mr. Zelensky’s request. U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters and internal deliberations, said it remained unclear what Mr. Biden would decide to do.
Israel’s preparations to strike homes and buildings in southern Lebanon where it claimed Hezbollah was storing weapons included calling and texting Lebanese residents to evacuate areas that would come under fire, according to Lebanese and Israeli government officials.
. . .
The message was also heard on at least one Lebanese radio station, where Israel managed to seize control of the airwaves.
Israel was able to send the calls and texts by hacking into Lebanon’s telecommunications systems, a practice they have perfected over the last decade in Lebanon and in Gaza, according to two Israeli intelligence officers.
Hassan Nasrallah decries targeting of pagers and walkie-talkies that killed 37, including children, and hurt thousands
Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of strikes across southern Lebanon late on Thursday, hours after Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, threatened “tough retribution and just punishment” for the wave of attacks that targeted the organisation with explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies.
The Israeli military said it had hit hundreds of rocket launchers which it said were about to be used “in the immediate future”.
The bombardment included more than 52 strikes across southern Lebanon, the country’s state news agency NNA said. Three Lebanese security sources told the Reuters news agency that they were the heaviest aerial strikes since the conflict began in October.
As Israeli jets roared over Beirut in a show of force earlier in the day, Nasrallah threatened retribution against Israel “where it expects it and where it does not”.
The Israeli government did not tamper with the Hezbollah devices that exploded, defense and intelligence officials say. It manufactured them as part of an elaborate ruse.
In Lebanon, as Israel picked off senior Hezbollah commandos with targeted assassinations, their leader came to a conclusion: If Israel was going high-tech, Hezbollah would go low. It was clear, a distressed Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, said, that Israel was using cellphone networks to pinpoint the locations of his operatives.
. . .
Israeli intelligence officials saw an opportunity.
Even before Mr. Nasrallah decided to expand pager usage, Israel had put into motion a plan to establish a shell company that would pose as an international pager producer.
By all appearances, B.A.C. Consulting was a Hungary-based company that was under contract to produce the devices on behalf of a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo. In fact, it was part of an Israeli front, according to three intelligence officers briefed on the operation. They said at least two other shell companies were created as well to mask the real identities of the people creating the pagers: Israeli intelligence officers.
Israel carried out its operation against Hezbollah on Tuesday by hiding explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon, according to American and other officials briefed on the operation.
The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, according to some of the officials. Most were the company’s AP924 model, though three other Gold Apollo models were also included in the shipment.
The explosive material, as little as one to two ounces, was implanted next to the battery in each pager, two of the officials said. A switch was also embedded that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives.
For real.
It's got to be crazy corruption from Lopez Obrador too though. The cartels have killed around 180 000 people since he took office and he's asking them to 'act responsibly' and chiding people for demonizing them.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is asking the warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel terrorizing the capital city of Culiacán to act "responsibly” so no one else gets killed
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday asked the warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel to act "responsibly” so no one else gets killed, after a week of escalating violence nearly paralyzed the Sinaloa state capital, Culiacan.
. . .
The exchange Friday during the president's morning press briefing is the latest in a series of instances where López Obrador has downplayed the clashes between factions of the Sinaloa cartel.
The president, who leaves office on Sept. 30, has repeatedly refused to confront cartels, laying out various justifications for his “hugs, not bullets” strategy offering opportunities to youths so they won’t join cartels.
In what universe? It's reporting based on dozens of interviews.
"Canada and others are unequivocal that Ukraine must win this war against Russia," Trudeau said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has firmly stated that Ukraine should be allowed to conduct long-range strikes inside Russian territory, despite threats from Moscow.
This stance comes in the wake of Ukrainian forces occupying parts of Russian territory for the first time since World War II, and Ukrainian officialls asking Western partners to remove restrictions on the use of Western long-range weapons so that Ukraine can degrade Russia’s logistics and airfields in the rear and bring the war to an end faster.
“Canada fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry to prevent and interdict Russia’s continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure, and mostly to kill innocent civilians in their unjust war,” Trudeau declared at a news conference in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.
"Canada and others are unequivocal that Ukraine must win this war against Russia," Trudeau said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has firmly stated that Ukraine should be allowed to conduct long-range strikes inside Russian territory, despite threats from Moscow.
This stance comes in the wake of Ukrainian forces occupying parts of Russian territory for the first time since World War II, and Ukrainian officialls asking Western partners to remove restrictions on the use of Western long-range weapons so that Ukraine can degrade Russia’s logistics and airfields in the rear and bring the war to an end faster.
“Canada fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry to prevent and interdict Russia’s continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure, and mostly to kill innocent civilians in their unjust war,” Trudeau declared at a news conference in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.
The U.S. State Department has announced new sanctions on Russian state media, accusing a Kremlin news outlet of working hand-in-hand with the Russian military and running fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
The U.S. State Department announced new sanctions on Russian state media Friday, accusing a Kremlin news outlet of working hand-in-hand with the Russian military and running fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
While the outlet, RT, has previously been sanctioned for its work to spread Kremlin propaganda and disinformation, the allegations announced Friday suggest its role goes far beyond influence operations. Instead, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, RT is a key part of Russia’s war machine and its efforts to undermine its democratic allies.
Forty-five Indians tricked into joining the Russian military fighting in Ukraine have been released, with 50 more yet to be discharged, NDTV reported on Sept. 12, citing the Indian Foreign Ministry.
Forty-five Indians tricked into joining the Russian military fighting in Ukraine have been released, with 50 more yet to be discharged, NDTV reported on Sept. 12, citing the Indian Foreign Ministry.
Moscow agreed to discharge Indian nationals who were illegally inducted into the Russian Armed Forces during a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in July.
An Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that efforts to bring back the remaining 50 citizens who are still on the battlefield are underway, NDTV wrote.
Earlier media reports revealed various schemes to lure people from third-party countries, including India, to Russia under promises of lucrative jobs or other opportunities only to pressure them into enlisting.
Philippe Lazzarini says closure would have ‘devastating consequences’ and calls for investigation into deadly strike
A campaign is under way to drive the UN relief agency for Palestinians, Unrwa, out of existence, its commissioner general has said, days after 18 people were killed when Israeli jets bombed an Unrwa school in Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini said in an interview that the Israeli government was seeking to close down the agency, having failed to persuade western donors to stop funding it on the grounds of allegations about links between Unrwa staff and Hamas.
“This deliberate attempt to eliminate Unrwa and prevent it from operating would have devastating consequences for the multilateral system, the UN and the cause of a Palestinian transition to self-determination,” Lazzarini said.
FSB says documents show diplomats in Moscow were helping to coordinate ‘escalation of military situation’ in Ukraine
Russia announced it had revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow on accusations of espionage as Keir Starmer prepared to meet Joe Biden in Washington to discuss how Ukraine could use long-range missiles deep inside Russian territory.
Moscow’s FSB domestic spy agency said on Friday that it had acted on documents showing that part of the Foreign Office was helping coordinate what it called “the escalation of the political and military situation” in Ukraine.
The Foreign Office, however, said the move had been made last month as part of a continuing diplomatic tit-for-tat. Sources indicated the British diplomats had left Russia weeks ago and were now being replaced.
The group has abused hostages and Palestinians as it wields rough justice in its efforts to maintain control of Gaza and wage an insurgent war.
Much international attention has focused on Israeli hurdles to delivering aid to Palestinians, its military operations that have killed tens of thousands of people and a bombing campaign that has reduced cities to rubble. American officials have repeatedly expressed deep frustration with Israel for those failures, too, as well as for not providing basic security in the territory.
But the reality of the war, according to U.S. officials, is that the Israeli military and Hamas carry out questionable acts nearly every day. Many of the reports reviewed by American intelligence analysts involve Israeli actions: military strikes that kill large numbers of civilians, errant attacks on aid convoys or other deadly incidents. But a large number of reports involve Hamas, both its acts of terrorism against hostages and its abuses of Palestinians.
. . .
This article is based on interviews with more than three dozen U.S. and Israeli officials, Hamas members and Palestinian residents of Gaza. Many of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence assessments. Many of the Palestinians spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation.
An ad campaign in the state, funded by a group that appears tied to Republicans, seems designed to remind Muslim voters of Kamala Harris’s pro-Israel views and her husband’s Jewish faith.
“Doug Emhoff,” a narrator says, “would be the first Jewish presidential spouse ever.”
The strategy behind the spot seems to be far more cynical.
A super PAC that appears to have Republican ties is targeting Michigan residents — including those in Detroit-area ZIP codes that are home to many Muslim Americans and Arab Americans — with YouTube advertisements that highlight Vice President Kamala Harris’s support for Israel and, in some cases, the Jewish faith of her husband, Mr. Emhoff.
As the narrator cheerfully notes Mr. Emhoff’s religion, an image of the Israeli flag appears onscreen, a dog whistle conjuring the antisemitic trope of dual loyalty.
Yossi Sariel takes responsibility for military surveillance unit’s role in intelligence failures before Hamas-led assault
The commander of Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, has announced his resignation, publicly accepting responsibility for failings that contributed to the deadly 7 October attacks.
Yossi Sariel said on Tuesday that he had informed his superiors of his intention to step down after the completion of an initial investigation into Unit 8200’s role in failures surrounding the Hamas-led assault last year.
In an emotional four-page letter to staff, Sariel said: “I did not fulfil the task I expected of myself, as expected of me by my subordinates and commanders and as expected of me by the citizens of the country that I love so much.”
He added: “The responsibility for 8200’s part in the intelligence and operational failure falls squarely on me.”
Comments come after Antony Blinken hints US will lift restrictions on Kyiv’s use of weapons inside Russia
Vladimir Putin has said that a western move to let Kyiv use longer-range weapons against targets inside Russia would mean Nato would be “at war” with Moscow.
Putin spoke as US and UK top diplomats discussed easing rules on firing western weapons into Russia, which Kyiv has been pressing for, more than two and a half years into Moscow’s offensive.
“This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict,” Putin told a state television reporter.
“It would mean that Nato countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia,” he added. “If that’s the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face.”
President Biden has refused to allow Ukraine to use long-range Western missiles on Russian military targets, but he appears to be wavering.
A deadly uptick of Russian guided glide bombs slamming into Ukrainian cities — as many as 800 in a single week this summer — has injected new urgency into a long-running debate over whether Ukraine should be allowed to launch missiles supplied by the West at military targets deep in Russian territory.
Amid signs that President Biden is wavering, the issue will be on the table when he meets in Washington on Friday with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, after the two leaders dispatched their top diplomats to Kyiv on Wednesday to hear out the latest pleas from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine has for months asked to use Western long-range weapons to attack more of the military sites that Russia uses to launch missiles and house the warplanes that drop the large, free-fall glide bombs that are wreaking havoc on Ukrainian forces and cities.
The missile production facility was destroyed in the attack, according to Western officials. Syrian state media reported that 18 people were killed in the strike.
Israel carried out a commando raid in Syria on Sunday that obliterated a Hezbollah missile production facility near the Lebanese border, killing a number of people at the site, according to American and other Western officials.
The operation included a daring raid by Israeli special forces, who rappelled down from helicopters and apparently seized materials from the missile facility, the officials said. Ground forces were used in the attack because of its complexity and to recover information from the secret weapons site, the officials said, adding that there were no Israeli casualties.
The officials said the raid included airstrikes on the sprawling site, the Scientific Studies and Research Center, which is near Masyaf, in the country’s northwest.
Ukrainian president says his country’s incursion still going to ‘plan’, as Russian forces make rapid advances
Russia says its forces have recaptured 10 settlements after it launched a counteroffensive in the Kursk region to push out Ukrainian troops who stormed across the border five weeks ago.
With fierce fighting continuing, Russia’s defence ministry listed the names of 10 settlements it said it had retaken, in a significant blow to Kyiv. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, acknowledged a Russian counteroffensive had begun.
It follows Ukraine’s surprise cross-border attack last month into western Russia. Zelenskiy said his armed forces had anticipated Russia’s assault this week and the operation was still going to plan.
The U.S. will provide $700 million in humanitarian aid, supporting displaced Ukrainians, the energy grid, and demining, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in Kyiv on Sept. 11.
The U.S. will provide Ukraine with $700 million in humanitarian aid to support displaced Ukrainians, the energy grid in Ukraine, and demining efforts, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in Kyiv on Sept. 11.
Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrived in Ukraine on Sept. 11 to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top Ukrainian officials.
. . .
Lammy also announced a similar 600-million-pound ($781 million) aid package while in Kyiv.
His voice makes me want to stab my ears but he's unravelling and it's kind of glorious.
According to the joint statement, they will now "be taking immediate steps to cancel bilateral air services agreements with Iran," and work towards sanctioning Iran Air, the country's flag carrier.
"Entities and individuals involved with Iran's ballistic missile program and the transfer of ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia" will also face sanctions.
. . .
The U.K. released a statement detailing which Iranian individuals and organizations had been sanctioned by both London and Washington.
These include Brigadier General Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari, the Iranian Defense Ministry's director general for international relations, Second Brigadier General Ali Jafarabadi, the head of the Space Command of Iran's Aerospace Force, and Majid Mousavi, Deputy Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
The U.K. also announced sanctions on five Russian cargo ships "for their role in transporting military supplies from Iran to Russia."
- “Boogaloo” has been co-opted and carries an unfortunate connotation these days.
I'm nowhere near ready to give up the fight on this one. Those bastards can pry "[Anything] 2: Electric Boogaloo" from my cold, dead hands.
This paper has a sketchy history. It's based in Moscow and not listed as a foreign agent. openDemocracy reports here on their history of publishing pro-Kremlin, pro-Putin nonsense. When 5 senior editors quit in response and started another paper, they were immediately labelled "foreign agents". This is propaganda. Check this uncritical trash about teaching students "media literacy" by depending on the state propaganda network:
The main meaning of the classes is to introduce schoolchildren to TASS as the main state news agency of the country, a source of reliable information about Russia and the world, follows from the scenarios of the classes. The Agency sets itself the task of "protecting the informational boundaries of the country and the truth, which is very often tried and trying to take away," said Andrei Kondrashov, TASS Director General. In order to become a journalist, it is necessary to "Homeland to love" and be inquisitive, he concluded. (autotranslated)
Iran International (Persian: ایران اینترنشنال) is a Persian-language news television channel headquartered in London aimed at Iranian viewers, and broadcasting free-to-air by satellite. Iran International was established in May 2017 and has broadcast its programmes from both London and Washington, D.C. In February 2023, Iran International moved its headquarters temporarily to Washington, D.C. due to increased threats from the Iranian government against their UK-based journalists, but back to London in September 2023.
Programming:
According to Middle East Eye, Iran International is a media platform for the Iranian opposition. Kourosh Ziabari of Al-Monitor wrote it "does not shy away from presenting itself as an opposition media organization" and frequently gives the microphone to guests who criticize the Iranian government. The channel has been referred to as an "Iranian exile news outlet" by Borzou Daragahi of The Independent.
Ownership:
Iran International is owned by Volant Media UK Ltd . . . Corporate documents for Volant Media shows that another Saudi national, Fahad Ibrahim Aldeghither, was the major shareholder of Volant Media before Adel Abdukarim. Aldeghither owned over 75% of the shares of Volant Media from May 2016 to May 2018. Fahad Ibrahim Aldeghither was the chairman of Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) from March 2013 to February 2016. Zain Saudi is the third-largest telecoms provider in Saudi Arabia.
Editorial Independence:
Though the TV station states that it "adheres to strict international standards of impartiality, balance and accountability", questions have been raised regarding its editorial independence.
In October 2018, a report by Saeed Kamali Dehghan in The Guardian linked Iran International's funding to Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It also interviewed an unnamed insider who said that the editorial content had been influenced by its investors. A source was reported by The Guardian as saying that Iran International received $250m from Saudi Arabia for launching the channel. The insider and an unnamed ex-employee expressed dismay that Saudi funding had been concealed from the employees. Iran International denied The Guardian's report . . . Azadeh Moaveni of New York University has charged the channel is an arm of Saudi Arabia: "I would not describe Iran International as pro-reform, or organically Iranian in any manner".
They said the same thing when he was repeatedly lining up troops along Ukraine’s border.
Who's 'they'? The US warned the world repeatedly that Putin was planning an invasion. They spent a month prior to the full-scale invasion herding skeptical cats in Europe trying to get everyone on the same page.
I follow my own Pixelfed account on Mastodon and will often boost posts. I have a pixelfed.social account though. It's probably a federation issue on your specific Pixelfed instance. I've moved the Mastodon account a bunch and I've had problems on specific instances. I was never able to see my Pixelfed posts from fedia.social (ice shrimp), for example.
I was also able to search, follow, and see your Pixelfed posts from mastodon.social.
Edit: Your two newest photos from Aug 31st aren't actually showing up on m.s. and I can't see them on pixelfed.social either.
The only information provided by the F.S.B.’s press service has been about criminal cases opened against Western and Ukrainian journalists, who followed the troops onto Russian territory without following Russian customs procedures and getting passport checks.
Always good to end on a comedic note.
Yeah, it seems like a risky play for the NDP. They're unlikely to be more powerful post-election. If it looks like the Cons are gonna win, people are more likely to vote strategically for the Libs to keep them out. It seems like they have a lot to lose. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out over the next few weeks.
It seems like a bad time to call an election. I'm a bit skeptical we won't be looking at an election very soon though. Singh released what is a basically a campaign video earlier today, so it seems like they think it'll be soon 🤷♂️
It's fine. It might be gross or sickly sweet, depending on how long it's been fermenting.
Auto-brewery syndrome is super rare. It's caused by conditions that allow brewing yeast (and other fermenting microbes) to live/thrive in your gut when they shouldn't. Nutritional yeast is also living brewing yeast, though it's dormant and not actively fermenting when eaten. You will get a bunch of B complex vitamins from the yeast!
But beware, my friends used to call green beer 'fartzens,' after the original Hefefartzen that we drank way too early.
They aren't really polling well. The best realistic scenario is probably the current one -- Libs in power with the NDP holding the balance and making awesome demands. They're most likely to have way less power after the election. I don't really get what Singh is seeing in the tea leaves here.
breakfastmtn @lemmy.ca He/Him
Sneaking all around the fediverse.
Also at breakfastmtm@fedia.social breakfastmtn@pixelfed.social