Saturday, June 22, 2024
Hezbollah hits at least two homes with anti-tank missiles in northern Israel
Bird flu map shows unprecedented spread as expert warns future pandemic inevitable
Bird flu is sweeping across the US with more than 1,000 outbreaks reported so far, but most Americans have nothing to fear - at least not yet.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the risk to the general public is “low” but it is “watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures.”
Since 2022 there have been four reported human cases, the most recent three - all this year - following exposure to infected dairy cows. The risk is tempered by the fact that it doesn’t spread easily among humans.
But public health officials fear that could change. Just recently former CDC director Dr Robert Redfield told NewsNation: “I really do think it’s very likely that we will, at some time, it’s not a question of if, it’s more of a question of when we will have a bird flu pandemic.”
And writing in the New York Times, Dr Jennifer B Nuzzo, an epidemiologist and director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health, warned that the virus “could mutate to gain the ability to infect people more easily.”
That would “likely cause a new pandemic.” With the disease proving fatal in around half of the nearly 900 people known to have contracted the H5N1 strain of the virus worldwide since 2003, bird flu is “typically more dangerous than the viruses that cause seasonal flu and COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, outbreaks of H5N1 have been detected in 525 counties and 48 states. The CDC says almost 97 million birds have been affected since January 2022 when the first H5 viruses to be found in the US since 2016 were detected.
The virus has also spread to 92 dairy cow herds in 12 US states.
Avian influenza - commonly known as bird flu - is a highly contagious viral disease affecting the respiratory, digestive and sometimes nervous system in many species of birds.
There are lots of different strains of the virus, but most don’t infect humans. The H5N1 strain of the virus detected in American poultry and dairy herds has caused concern because it can - in rare cases - be transmitted to humans.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) there have been 889 cases and 463 deaths worldwide caused by the H5N1 virus since 2003.
Recently concerns have also been raised about the H5N2 strain of bird flu, after the death of a 59-year-old Mexican man. WHO confirmed this was the first recorded human death from this strain of the virus.
Responding to the current outbreak of H5N1 in the US, WHO said: “Since the virus has not acquired mutations that facilitate transmission among humans and based on available information, WHO assesses the public health risk to the general population posed by this virus to be low and for occupationally exposed persons the risk of infection is considered low-to-moderate.
“Due to the constantly evolving nature of influenza viruses, WHO continues to stress the importance of global surveillance to detect and monitor virological, epidemiological and clinical changes associated with emerging or circulating influenza viruses that may affect human (or animal) health and timely virus sharing for risk assessment.”
Food Control And Climate Change
Nasrallah threatens to send Israel to the "Stone Age"
A delegation of the Cyprus Intelligence Service led by its Deputy Director arrived earlier today in the capital Beirut to meet with Lebanon's Director General of General Security, Major General Elias al-Baysari as well as several other senior Lebanese officials.
The reason; Of course the serious threats made recently by the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
Cyprus gives assurances that it is not going to give bases to Israel to carry out airstrikes in Lebanon.
But the Hezbollah leader's threat and the recent exercises of the Russian Army in Tartus and Latakia show that "something else" is happening behind the scenes.
Hence the recent exercises of the Russian and Syrian Army in the Golan Heights and in the country's ports where they activated all the anti-ship missile arrays as well as the S-400 and S-300 anti-aircraft systems.
This is the possibility of the Israel-Hezbollah war becoming general involving thousands of pro-Iranian Shia forces and involving Syria.
There are already "crazy numbers" of Shiites who want to help Hezbollah in the coming war. From Yemen and Iran to Syria.
In such a case, indeed Israel will need the help of Cyprus.
There is something else that the political leaders of Cyprus never predicted (or simply did not want):
The question now is not what Hezbollah wants but what Iran, Russia and Turkey want in the region.
NATO will not protect Cyprus in the event of an attack by Hezbollah: In an interview he gave to the American network CNN, the head of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, made statements about the recent threats from the Lebanese armed organization Hezbollah.
Stoltenberg emphasized that Cyprus is not a member of NATO, implying that it does not enjoy the protection of the North Atlantic alliance.
The operation to recapture Kiev and intensive war preparations in Belarus
What did the two presidents and the last legitimate president of Ukraine discuss, according to Moscow? The peace plan for Ukraine presented a few days ago by Putin.
According to information, negotiations were held first in a narrow format and then in an expanded format. The heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and Andrei Belusov took part in the meeting.
It is extremely possible that Putin and A. Lukashenko asked Viktor Yanukovych to become the first president of the "New Russia", that is, the territories of the former Ukraine.
The citizens of these territories, anyway, elected him as their president. Of the territories, which recently.Putin asked the Ukrainian forces to leave, i.e. Donetsk-Lugansk-Kherson and Zaporizhia.
The rejection of the Russian peace plan involves Belarus.
The Kiev front will open again for Yanukovych's "New Russia" to "liberate" the rest of "Little Russia" or "Occupied Ukraine". Perhaps this is what N. Medvedev meant when he said that only a "narrow strip of land" will remain from what is now Ukraine.
Belarus has adopted a new military doctrine that speaks of the country's possible involvement in an armed conflict abroad.
This is mainly due to the aggressive policy of Poland and the Baltic countries, as stated in the document published online
The doctrine states that the West in the foreseeable future will proceed with violent actions that will lead to the provocation of an "internal armed conflict" within Belarus itself .
The document envisages, in the event of an attack, the provision of military assistance to Russia as a member of the Union State and the CSTO Organization.
According to the Belarusian State Border Committee, armored vehicles have also been spotted near the Ukraine-Belarus border, including infantry fighting vehicles, MT-LBs, HIMARS MLRS, Bradleys, Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, M777 artillery systems and other heavy weapons.
It is recalled that Ukraine has a border with Belarus in the north, more than 1,000 kilometers long. The state border with Belarus runs through five regions of Ukraine – Chernihiv, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne and Volyn.
Israel preparing for “mass burials” ahead of impending offensive in Lebanon
Israeli Minister of Religious Affairs Michael Malchieli told the media that his ministry was handling several issues related to the war in Gaza, and preparing for burials is just one of them.
He told Channel 14: "We are busy with many things related to the war, in preparation, unfortunately, also for whatever - may it not happen - in the north."
When the interviewer asked him if Israel is anticipating any “mass burial” scenarios, he answered in the affirmative, saying that additional deaths from the conflict with Lebanon were a real possibility.
"We in the ministry are holding meetings and preparations for bigger things in the north, yes," he replied.
The Israeli military recently announced that plans for an upcoming offensive in Lebanon had been approved, and they have already started launching strikes on Hezbollah drone launch squads. They also said they have made decisions about “increasing the readiness of troops in the field.”
Just hours before the announcement, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group broadcast video footage it claims was taken by a surveillance drone over Haifa, a port city in northern Israel, in what is widely being interpreted as a warning to Israel against starting a conflict with them. The video ran for nine minutes and pinpointed important locations such as civilian infrastructure and military sites.
Israel responded angrily to the video. Foreign Minister Israel Katz cautioned in a post on X: “We are very close to the moment of decision to change the rules against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely hit."
“The State of Israel will pay a price on the front and home fronts, but with a strong and united nation, and the full power of the IDF, we will restore security to the residents of the north,” he added.
The Lebanese militant group has been trading fire with Israeli forces on a regular basis since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began last October. However, there has been a significant escalation in the last week, with Hezbollah firing dozens of rockets at Israel after the Jewish state killed one of their commanders with an air strike.
Israel shifting its focus from Gaza to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon
It is believed that when fighting in Gaza slows down, Israel will shift its full focus to its northern border, where it will try to push Hezbollah back so that the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been displaced can return home before school starts in the fall.
American and Israeli officials are worried that if a full-blown war breaks out between Israel and Hezbollah, the group may overwhelm Israeli air defenses in the northern part of the country, including its Iron Dome air defense system. They believe that at least some of the Iron Dome's batteries could be overwhelmed when faced by Hezbollah’s impressive arsenal of drones and missiles, especially if they carry out a large-scale attack with precision-guided weapons.
Putin Sends Clear Message to NATO By Revising Russian Nuclear Doctrine
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres: The World Is On The Brink Of Catastrophe
The world is on the brink of a catastrophe, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Friday, pointing to the risks of a potential devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The head of the Shia militia, Hassan Nasrallah, warned on Wednesday that Hezbollah is prepared for a full-scale conflict with West Jerusalem and could invade the Jewish state’s northern territories in case of further escalation. The statement came after one of the group’s senior commanders, Hajj Sami Taleb Abdullah, was killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon last week.
“One rash move – one miscalculation – could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly, beyond imagination,” the UN secretary general told reporters at a press conference, adding that “the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.” He called on both sides to “urgently recommit” to peace.
Rocket exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah have driven more than 53,000 Israelis and almost 100,000 Lebanese from their homes over the past nine months.
Earlier this week, the Jewish state’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned that West Jerusalem was “very close” to a decision that would “change the rules of the game”against the Shia militia.
Terror Threat On U.S. Soil Has Risen Dramatically
Taking the US from the inside: Chinese intelligence a breath away from 19 US bases
The New York Post's report on China's activities within American soil is shocking.
More specifically, the publication talks about ownership of farmland literally next to 19 US military installations.
Experts speak of a major threat to US national security, since the Chinese "owners" are within range to sabotage the bases, in the worst case scenario, or steal top secret military information from them.
The NY Post has identified 19 military installations from Florida to Hawaii that are located near tracts of land that were acquired by "Chinese entities."
The specific areas of land can be used as springboards by spies, acting on behalf of the communist country.
Examples include Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in North Carolina, Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) in Texas, Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego, California, and MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
Brigadier General Robert S. Spalding III, an expert on Sino-American relations, sounds the alarm because, according to his words, “we should be concerned because of the proximity to strategic areas.
These lands can be used for intelligence gathering, but they are also a springboard for China to meddle in local politics, as we have already seen in the past...
Worryingly, there are no laws preventing Chinese people from buying property in the US.”
"Under the guise of agricultural operations, Chinese owners can install tracking and identification technologies, use radar and infrared scans to monitor the bases, or even fly drones over these top-secret facilities ," as other sources report to the NY Post.
A report in the Wall Street Journal from September 2023 spoke of Chinese hackers attempting to breach US military installations more than 100 times in recent years, including a sneaky attempt to infiltrate a missile test site in New Mexico, as well as scuba divers (Scooba divers), who were spotted near a missile facility in Florida.
Morgan Lerette, former member of Blackwater sounds the alarm.
“The Chinese are using or will use this farmland to learn more about US military capabilities, movements and technology,” Lerette told The Post.
"This will allow them to better understand how to move their military from a defensive strategy to an expeditionary strategy," he said, adding that they will understand "how to move forces quickly for conflicts like taking over Taiwan and how and when the forces of The US would respond to their incursions based on the movement of troops to these bases," he explained.
He added that China would monitor troop movements to and from the bases in an effort to form an idea of patterns of behavior and movements.
“It would allow the Chinese to investigate what is moving and how to combat it. It's easy to recognize mobilization if you know what to look for."
Friday, June 21, 2024
Israel Intent On Launching An Incursion Into Lebanon,
CNN has revealed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned top Arab officials that Israel is intent on launching an incursion into Lebanon. "It seems that they [Israel] are very serious about going into Lebanon," a source who was privy to Blinken's meeting with an Arab counterpart during his latest trip to the region said.
CNN described further, "The Arab official’s response to Blinken, the source added, was that Hezbollah has communicated that they will not stop their strikes on Israel until Israel stops its operations in Gaza."
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has warned this week that in the scenario of all-out war, no place in Israel would be safe and even nearby allies of Tel Aviv could come under Hezbollah rocket fire if they offer assistance - in a threat specifically warning Cyprus. This came soon after Israel's top generals approved battle plans and acknowledged the IDF is on the 'brink' of launching an offensive against the Shia paramilitary group backed by Tehran.
The US is till seeking to cool tensions and making the argument that broader war is good for no one. CNN additionally included the following surprising statement from the Israeli side (surprising given that Israeli military leaders know full well that Hamas is far more formidable a foe than Hamas):
Israel has made the case that it can pull off a "blitzkrieg," but the US is warning them that they may not be able to ensure that it remains a limited campaign, the official said.
Israel's strategy in a ground invasion scenario would be to keep the offensive 'limited' inasmuch as possible, primarily with the aim of creating a buffer zone of some 10km, which could allow the return of the tens of thousands of residents of northern Israel who have been within easy reach of Hezbollah's constant drone and rocket barrages.
Washington too has been pressing a ceasefire plan that would ideally see Hezbollah agree to a buffer zone. Referencing Biden's special envoy in the region Amos Hochstein, who has been in Beirut the last couple of days (and in Israel before that), CNN writes that "If war is averted and Hochstein’s plan goes into effect, it would similarly see Hezbollah pull back around six miles, or ten kilometers, away from the border." And more:
"The fact that we have managed to even hold the front for this long has been a miracle," a senior US official said, referring to the US’ efforts to keep the Israel-Hezbollah attacks from spiraling into an all-out war.
"We’re entering a very dangerous period," another senior Biden administration official said. "Something could start with little warning."
However the IDF might have trouble keeping operations limited: "But in order to prevent a return by the group in the future, Israel may want to further destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the area," notes the report.
It must be remembered that all the way back in January, Israel received a warning from US military intelligence (DIA) laying out that fighting a two-front war with Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north would be devastating, and likely a losing situation.
This surprise revelation and blunt warning was buried in a prior Washington Post story:
In private conversations, the administration has warned Israel against a significant escalation in Lebanon. If it were to do so, a new secret assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) found that it will be difficult for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to succeed because its military assets and resources would be spread too thin given the conflict in Gaza, according to two people familiar with those findings. A spokesperson for the DIA did not offer comment.
We previously unpacked the implication in special analysis If Full War With Hezbollah Opens, Israel Will Lose.
Blinken's office was cited in the same report as saying at the time: "It is in no one’s interest — not Israel’s, not the region’s, not the world’s — for this conflict to spread beyond Gaza." This has been the official US line since then as well. Of course, this would likely hasten a broader Israel-Iran war, likely to also spill into Syrian and Iraq.
Rumors Of War: North and South Korea Tensions Increasing At The Border
Another front between the Superpowers is being activated on the planet: For the third time this month, North Korean troops have crossed the de facto border of South Korea, forcing South Korean forces to open fire with warning shots.
This time there is a telling difference as the Russia-North Korea Defense Pact is in full effect and the Russian Pacific Fleet is simulating a major naval confrontation near South Korea and Japan.
“North Korean soldiers (…) within the demilitarized zone, in the central sector of the front, crossed the military separation line. After warnings and warning shots from our military, the North Korean soldiers withdrew to the north,"South Korea's national defense general staff said, according to which today's incident was recorded at around 11:00 (05:00 GMT).
Relations between North and South Korea have reached their worst point in decades. From a technical point of view, the two states remain at war, as the war between them (1950-1953) was only ended by a simple armistice, a peace treaty was never signed.
This was the third border violation by North Korea this month. Previously, a group of 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers entered other areas of the central part of the border on June 9 and 18, respectively.
The border violations have come as North Korea has deployed large numbers of troops in front-line areas and is conducting a range of activities, including mine-laying and building anti-tank barriers.
It seems that North Korea is preparing and strengthening its first line of defense along the border.
The timing of the back-and-forth security incidents between North and South Korea is notable.
For days now, the Russian Pacific Fleet (after the Mediterranean, Baltic and Northern Fleets) has left the naval base and is conducting large exercises in the Pacific Ocean and near South Korea and Japan.
Video released by Russia's defense ministry shows several ships and a submarine sailing out to sea from the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok (next to North Korea), an operational base of Russia's Pacific Fleet.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense:
Pacific Fleet forces began deploying at sea as part of the exercise, which will be held from June 18 to 28 in the Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk.
The exercises involve 40 ships and support ships all coastal anti-ship arrays “Bal” and “Bastion, about 20 aircraft and helicopters of the naval aviation, including anti-submarine aircraft Tu-142mz, Il-38 and Il-38N, anti-submarine and SAR helicopters Ka -29 and Ka-27.
South Korean media reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador Georgi Zinoviev for an explanation.
South Korea requests an explanation " on the issue of the signing of the defense agreement between Pyongyang and Moscow".