Russian Jet Buzzes NORAD Warplane Off Alaska

Watch: Russian Jet Buzzes NORAD Warplane Off Alaska

TYLER DURDEN

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has revealed more details of a close call incident between US fighter jets and Russian aircraft off the coast of Alaska which took place one week ago.

Four Russian military planes had breached Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) - though which is still deemed international airspace - before being intercepted and shadowed by US planes. But on Monday NORAD published video of the incident, which for the first time reveals that a Russian Su-35 came very close to the American jets. Watch:

The video shows that while US pilots were mirroring a Russian long-range bomber from a safe distance, the Russian Su-35 buzzed the US aircraft at a high rate of speed, apparently in an effort to warn the US plane off.

The threatening aerial maneuvers by the Russian side are likely on the increase as a result of tensions connected with the Russia-Ukraine war, in which NATO has been upping its involvement.

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Hezbollah issues chilling new warning

We're ready for war: Hezbollah issues chilling new warning

Sabrina Miller Charlie Faulkner In Beirut Arthur Parashar Aidan Radnedge David Averre

James Reynolds

Hezbollah has warned Israel that it is braced and 'ready' for war - as Israeli forces appear to be edging closer to a ground invasion of Lebanon.

Israeli special forces are already carrying out raids in Lebanon ahead of an imminent incursion aimed at ousting Hezbollah, officials claimed today.

Elite commandos were said to be targeting the Iran-backed group's infrastructure, including weapon sites and control centres, as it scrambles to recover from the loss of long-time chief Hassan Nasrallah.

'They are targeting key sites which have been built across the border zone,' an Israeli official told The Telegraph.

IDF tanks have massed on the northern border ahead of an anticipated incursion into Lebanon despite resounding pressure from Israel's allies to de-escalate at once as they fear a collapse into all-out war.

Lebanon is also reported to be sending its army to the southern border. Israel maintains that its war is with Hezbollah, not the people of Lebanon, as it prepares to move north.

Hezbollah has fired rockets into northern Israel since the war in Gaza broke out last October, in response to the Israeli bombing of the Strip.

As Hezbollah scrambles to appoint a new leader and vows retaliation, allies have been urging a ceasefire deal to stop the conflict from breaking out into a wider regional war.

Still, Israel looks to capitalise on its momentum, having taken out dozens of officials linked to Hezbollah - and Hamas and Iran - in a week of intensive strikes. 

Hamas today announced that its leader in Lebanon had been killed by Israeli air strikes.

Fateh Sherif Abu al-Amine died today in a strike on the Al-Buss refugee camp in the southern city of Tyre - days after Hezbollah's long-standing chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Beirut.

The group said al-Amine was killed with his wife, son and daughter in what it called a 'terrorist and criminal assassination'.

That statement came hours after the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine(PFLP), a secular left-wing group, said three of its members were killed in a strike on Beirut's Kola district early today. 

Most of Israel's attacks against Hezbollah have so far been carried out in the south of Lebanon or Beirut's southern suburbs.

But this morning's attack in the Kola district was the first within Beirut's city limits - another escalation that observers fear could could trigger a wider war, dragging in Iran and the United States. 

More....

Israel Dubs Lebanon Ground Invasion 'Operation Northern Arrows'

Israel Dubs Lebanon Ground Invasion 'Operation Northern Arrows'

TYLER DURDEN

Update(1908ET): Israel has named the new cross-border offensive "Operation Northern Arrows". Below is an early description by the IDF as posted to Telegram and other government channels [emphasis ZH]:

IDF troops have begun limited, localized and targeted raids against Hezbollah terror targets in the border area of southern Lebanon

In accordance with the decision of the political echelon, a few hours ago, the IDF began limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon. These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.

The IDF is operating according to a methodical plan set out by the General Staff and the Northern Command which IDF soldiers have trained and prepared for in recent months.

The Israeli Air Force and IDF Artillery are supporting the ground forces with precise strikes on military targets in the area.

Some Lebanese accounts have claimed that Hezbollah has already killed and wounded some invading Israeli soldiers, but these reports will remain hard to verify within the opening hours of the campaign and amid the fog of war.

Heavy strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs during the night hours (local):

"This is the moment," Retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Aviv Amiri has told CNN. The southern areas were reportedly subject to carpet bombing raids within the hours prior to the border breach. "We cannot create terms for Israelis to return to their homes without pushing Hezbollah out of South Lebanon, certainly at minimum eight miles, which would be anti-tank missile range," Amiri has said.

Israel's military has also issued new warnings telling Lebanese civilians in the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate, ahead of more imminent airstrikes on Hezbollah locations.

Israeli army tanks have entered Lebanon - Al Arabiya and Al Hadath

The Israeli Defence Forces are reportedly conducting a ground operation in #Lebanon - for the first time since 2006, when the second Lebanon war began.

Intense airstrikes are now once again hitting the Lebanese capital...

Israel has been busy over the weekend striking multiple fronts. Not only has it expanded airstrikes on Beirut in the wake of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's Friday death, but it is attacking Yemen and Syria as well.

Starting late last week into Saturday, Yemen's Iran-linked Houthis announced the launch of several ballistic missiles toward Tel Aviv, which Israel's military said were intercepted. And on Friday, in an incident which went underreported (given headlines were focused heavily on Beirut events), three US warships in the Red Sea came under simultaneous rocket attacks from the Houthis.

On Sunday Israeli jets had the assistance of US military intelligence as they conducted a massive airstrike on Yemen's key port of Hodeidah. It happened in the early evening local time. Axios reports that "sensitive" Houthis facilities were on the target list.

Israel Launches Ground Incursion Into Lebanon

IDF says troops launched limited ground raids of Hezbollah sites across northern border

Jacob Magid

The IDF announces that several hours ago, its troops launched “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

The raids are targeting Lebanese villages close to the border, which have been used by Hezbollah to pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel, the IDF says.

The IDF announces that its forces launched a “targeted and limited” ground incursion into southern Lebanon several hours ago against Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in a number of Lebanese villages along the border that pose an immediate threat to Israeli towns on the other side of the Blue Line.

The operation was approved by the political echelon and is based on plans drawn up by the IDF’s General Staff and Northern Command following months of preparation and training, the army says in a statement.

Ground troops currently operating inside Lebanon are being assisted by air and artillery forces, the IDF says.

The incursion is an extension of the IDF’s Operation Northern Arrows, which was launched earlier this month against Hezbollah, and continues at the same time as the fighting in Gaza and other arenas, the army adds.

“The IDF is continuing to operate to achieve the goals of the war and is doing everything necessary to defend the citizens of Israel and return the citizens of northern Israel to their homes,” the army says in its statement.

Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon is imminent, officials say

Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon is imminent, officials say

Barak Ravid

Israel is preparing for an imminent ground invasion of southern Lebanon, which will focus on villages close to the border, two Israeli officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: Just days after killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israel is set to launch a dangerous new phase of its escalating conflict with the militant group by undertaking its first ground invasion of Lebanon since 2006.

Behind the scenes: The White House believes it has reached understandings with Israel that the scope of the Israeli ground invasion will be limited to border areas in southern Lebanon, two sources with knowledge of the issue tell Axios.

• One of the sources said the White House was concerned over the weekend that Israel was preparing a major ground invasion, and raised those concerns with the Israelis. 
• During 48 hours of high-level conversations between U.S. and Israeli officials, the Israelis assured the White House that the plan is more narrowly targeted, focused on clearing out Hezbollah infrastructure near the Israeli border and then pulling IDF forces back, the source said.
• The Biden administration does not expect an invasion on the scale of the 2006 Lebanon War, the source added.
• The source said that the White House believes it has influence on the Israeli military planning. However, a senior Israeli official stressed to Axios that plans for Israel's operation were limited in scope in the first place.

• But White House officials told their Israeli counterparts they're concerned that — as in previous wars in Lebanon — what starts as a time-limited and geographically limited operation slides into something larger and longer-term, the source said.

Driving the news: Over the last three weeks, the IDF has moved many infantry and tank units from Gaza to the northern border and mobilized several reserve brigades.

• Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant alluded to the possibility of an imminent ground invasion in a meeting with soldiers in a tank unit on the border on Monday.
• "The elimination of Nasrallah is an important step, but it is not the final one. In order to ensure the return of Israel's northern communities, we will employ all of our capabilities, and this includes you," Gallant said.
• In a meeting with the heads of municipalities which are located on the northern border, Gallant said "the next phase in the war against Hezbollah will begin soon and it will be a significant factor in changing the security situation and will allow us to return the residents to their homes."

State of play: The Israeli security cabinet convened on Monday to discuss the ground invasion, Israeli officials said.

• State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller didn't express opposition to a possible limited ground operation in a briefing with reporters on Monday and said while the U.S. still supports a ceasefire, "military pressure can at times enable diplomacy."
• Over 1,000 people have been killed in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah over the past two weeks.

Netanyahu Claims Iran's Regime Will Fall Soon

Netanyahu: Iran’s Islamic Republic will fall sooner than people think

TOVAH LAZAROFF

The Islamic Republic will collapse sooner than people think, and the Iranian people will be free, paving the way for relations between these two ancient cultures, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

“When Iran is finally free and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think – everything will be different,” he said.

“When that day comes, the terror network that the regime built in five continents will be bankrupt, dismantled,” Netanyahu explained, adding that Iran will thrive as never before.”

He spoke two weeks into a series of IDF strikes that has eliminated Hezbollah’s command structure, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The intense IDF bombardment of Hezbollah targets has been viewed as a veiled warning to Iran. Netanyahu, himself, has issued a number of very public threats against Iran.

“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu said on Monday. “There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country.”

On Monday he released a statement in English aimed at the Iranian people, explaining that “at this pivotal moment, I want to address you – the people of Iran. I want to do so directly, without filters, without middlemen.

“Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you, make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza.

"Yet every day, that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war,” he said.

“With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss,” he stated.

“The vast majority of Iranians know their regime doesn't care a whit about them,” Netanyahu said.

This regime has wasted billions of dollars on futile wars rather than investing in the country’s economy and future, he explained.

“From Qom to Esfahan, from Shiraz to Tabriz, there are tens of millions of good and decent people with thousands of years of history behind them and a bright future ahead of them,” he said,

That future includes global investments, massive tourism, brilliant technological innovations, and peace between Israel and Iran.

When that day comes, he said, “Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace.”

Hezbollah's Next Projected Leader Seen As More Hardline Than Nasrallah

Hezbollah's Next Projected Leader Seen As More Hardline Than Nasrallah

TYLER DURDEN

In a defiant speech, Hezbollah's #2 who survived Friday's Israeli decapitation strikes of the group's leadership which killed Hassan Nasrallah, vowed that the Iran-backed group is 'ready' to take on any potential Israeli ground offensive into Lebanon.

Deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Monday insisted Hezbollah will continue to fight despite the huge series of blows which began with the pager explosions. "We are quite ready, if the Israelis want a ground incursion, the resistance forces are ready for that," Qassem declared.

He told the Lebanese people to be "reassured, victory is our ally, we need a bit of patience" and claimed that "Israel was not able to affect our (military) capabilities."

"Israel is committing massacres in all areas of Lebanon until there is no house left without traces of Israeli aggression in it," he continued. "Israel attacks civilians, ambulances, children and the elderly. It does not fight fighters, but rather commits massacres."

At one point in the speech he called out the United States for shipping billions in weaponry to Israel, and for providing intelligence and other support. He called Washington "a partner with Israel, through unlimited military support – culturally, politically, financially." The Biden administration had quickly tried to say it had no prior awareness that Israel was about to assassinate Secretary-General Nasrallah and his top leadership on Friday.

Qassem stressed, "We will win, just as we won in our confrontation with Israel in 2006." But he indirectly acknowledged the group's mounting losses, saying, "There are deputy commanders and there are replacements in case a commander is wounded in any post."

He also hinted at something high on everyone's mind, including Israel's: the question of a successor to Nasrallah. As related by Al Jazeera: 

He added that Hezbollah will install a new leadership soon via "internal mechanisms". The choice of new leadership is clear, Qassem continued, without offering further details.

He said a new chief will be chosen "at the earliest opportunity." 

Much media speculation has focused on Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah and one who even resembles him in appearance. However, he's said to be even more hardline. According to one profile of the potential successor: 

Hashem Safieddine, a potential successor to his slain cousin Hassan Nasrallah, is one of Hezbollah’s most prominent figures and has deep religious and family ties to the Shiite Muslim movement’s patron Iran.

Safieddine bears a striking resemblance to his charismatic maternal cousin Nasrallah but is several years his junior, aged in his late 50s or early 60s.

A source close to Hezbollah, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said the grey-bearded, bespectacled Safieddine was the “most likely” candidate for party’s top job.

The United States has had him on its list of "designated terrorists" since 2017, given his leadership within Hezbollah via the group's decision-making Shura Council, as well as close ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

While Hezbollah sources are currently denying that he's yet been chosen, Reuters and others have been digging into his background. "Safieddine’s family ties and a physical resemblance to Nasrallah, as well as his religious status as a descendant of Mohammed, would all count in his favor," Reuters wrote.

Gallant strongly hints Israel readying to launch ground op against Hezbollah in Lebanon

Gallant strongly hints Israel readying to launch ground op against Hezbollah in Lebanon

Emanuel Fabian

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant strongly hints that Israel is preparing to launch a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“The elimination of [Hezbollah terror chief Hassan] Nasrallah is a very important step, but it is not everything. We will use all the capabilities we have,” Gallant says to troops of the 188th Armored Brigade and Golani Infantry Brigade in northern Israel.

“If someone on the other side does not understand what these capabilities mean, it is all capabilities and you are part of this effort. We trust you to be able to accomplish anything,” he adds to the troops.

Netanyahu Sends Message To Iran: Iran Will Be Free 'Sooner Than People Think'

‘Israel stands with you,’ Netanyahu tells Iranian people, says Iran will be free ‘sooner than people think’

Times of Israel

“Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you, make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza. Yet every day, that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war,” the premier says in an English-language video statement, going on to boast of Israel’s military might and recent assassinations of terror leaders.

“With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss,” he says. “The vast majority of Iranians know their regime doesn’t care a whit about them. If it did care, if it cared about you, it would stop wasting billions of dollars on futile wars across the Middle East. It would start improving your lives. Imagine if all the vast money the regime wasted on nuclear weapons and foreign wars were invested in your children’s education, in improving your health care, in building your nation’s infrastructure, water, sewage, all the other things that you need. Imagine that.”

“When Iran is finally free — and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think – everything will be different,” he promises. “Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace. Our two countries, Israel and Iran, will be at peace.

“When that day comes, the terror network that the regime built in five continents will be bankrupt, dismantled. Iran will thrive as never before. Global investment. Massive tourism. Brilliant technological innovation based on the tremendous talents that exists inside Iran. Doesn’t that sound better than endless poverty, repression and war?”

Concludes Netanyahu: “Don’t let a small group of fanatic theocrats crush your hopes and your dreams. You deserve better. Your children deserve better. The entire world deserves better. I know you don’t support the rapists and murderers of Hamas and Hezbollah, but your leaders do. You deserve more. The people of Iran should know – Israel stands with you. May we together know a future of prosperity and peace.”

Marburg Outbreak In Rwanda: Cases Reported In 6 of 30 Districts

Ebola-like virus kills six in Rwanda

The Telegraph

Six people have died in a major outbreak of Marburg disease in Rwanda, a viral hemorrhagic fever from the same family as Ebola.

At least 26 cases have been reported since the outbreak was first confirmed on Friday, the health minister has announced, marking the first-ever reported cases in Rwanda.

While the source of the outbreak is not yet known, cases have been reported in six of the country’s 30 districts, suggesting it may be widespread

The majority of cases so far recorded have been reported in health workers in and around the country’s capital Kigali.

The city has a population of 1.2 million people and a well-connected airport, raising concerns of further spread via international and domestic travel, experts have warned.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is deploying experts and outbreak response tools to Rwanda to help curb the virus. Shipments of emergency medical supplies are expected to land in Kigali in the coming days.

The agency also said it is coordinating efforts to reinforce cross-border measures in Rwanda’s neighbouring countries to avert further spread.

With a fatality rate of up to 88 per cent, Marburg is initially transmitted to people via fruit bats and then spreads through contact with bodily fluids of infected people.

Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, muscle pains, diarrhoea, and vomiting. In severe cases, death occurs from extreme blood loss.

There are no specific treatments or licensed vaccines available for the Marburg virus, but a range of therapeutics are currently in development, according to the WHO.

It is the fourth-largest Marburg outbreak ever recorded, a particular concern given cases were only confirmed on Friday.

Rwandan authorities have urged the public to stay vigilant, wash their hands with clean water and soap, and report all suspected cases.

Get Ready: East Coast Port Strike Could Fuel Next Supply Chain Meltdown

Get Ready: East Coast Port Strike Could Fuel Next Supply Chain Meltdown

MICHAEL SNYDER/

If there is something that you really need to buy, you might want to get it now, because it might not be available later.  

The International Longshoremen's Association port workers are on the verge of initiating a strike which would shut down ports all over the East Coast and the Gulf Coast, and if that strike lasts long enough it will throw U.S. supply chains into a state of complete and utter chaos.  

Needless to say, this could have a huge impact on the upcoming election.  If store shelves are quite bare in early November, millions of Americans will be in a very bad mood when they go to vote.

If it happens, the strike will begin on Tuesday.  This is the first time that we have seen a strike of this nature in nearly 50 years...

Thousands of longshoremen at ports from New England to Texas are set to strike early Tuesday in the first walkout of its kind in almost half a century, freezing commercial shipping on a massive scale and disrupting the national economy weeks before the presidential election.

A strike would be the biggest disruption to the flow of goods in and out of the country since the height of the pandemic. Even a short-lived work stoppage would snarl shipping and create havoc in supply chains for weeks. Cargo ranging from cars to electronics, from food to furniture, would be stuck on ships offshore. Each day a strike lasts could cost the U.S. economy up to $1 billion, according to analysts.

If the strike only lasts for a few days, it won't really be a big deal.

But if it is an extended strike, major retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot will be facing massive supply chain headaches...

As the International Longshoremen's Association port workers move closer to a strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, the union is warning that major importers such as LG Electronics, Walmart, Ikea, Samsung, and Home Depot will find no options to divert trade to Canada or the West Coast as other unions close ranks in support of its labor battle.

These companies are among the leading importers at the 14 major ports that an ILA strike would impact, according to ImportGenius. Overall, between 43%-49% of all U.S. imports and billions of dollars in trade monthly are at stake as the union moves closer to the Oct. 1 deadline for a new contract, over which talks between the union and ports management broke down in June and have not resumed. Cruise operations at ports would continue.

Joe Biden could have used a provision in federal law to delay the strike until after the election, but he has chosen not to do that...

Businesses have been nervously watching the 12:01 am Tuesday strike deadline approaching with little sign of progress toward a deal to avoid a strike of tens of thousands longshore workers. Many have been doing what they can to prepare for the shutdown - but there are limits.

It doesn't make economic - or logistical - sense to ship many of the goods that come into East Coast ports by alternative ports of entry - or by plane.

That means America could see some shortages of chocolate, alcohol, popular fruit, including bananas and cherries, and even certain cars if the strike lasts a long time. That could mean higher prices for the goods that are available.

Of course that would just be the tip of the iceberg.

As we witnessed during the COVID pandemic, thousands of different products can be in short supply when there are major supply chain disruptions.

As everyone discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, container ports are a choke point in a supply chain as essential to daily life in the United States as water, electricity and telecommunications. Disruptions have a ripple effect throughout the economy and are exponentially compounded as goods pile up at ports, terminals, warehouses and other distribution points. So it takes longer to restart the flow of goods than it does to stop it. Considerably longer.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene is also going to have an enormous impact on supply chains.

Sadly, the storm caught the vast majority of the population off guard as it carved a path of "apocalyptic chaos" all over the South...

This is being called a "once in a generation" storm, and at this moment hundreds of roads in North Carolina and South Carolina are closed...

About 300 roads are closed in North Carolina and another 150 are closed in South Carolina, acting Federal Highway Administrator Kristin White of the US Department of Transportation said Sunday. North Carolina officials on Sunday acknowledged those closures have hampered delivery of water supplies to communities in need, like the city of Weaverville in Buncombe County, which is without both power and water, Mayor Patrick Fitzsimmons said.

Even the largest highways in the region have been devastated.

One official in North Carolina is even comparing the storm to Hurricane Katrina...

Towns throughout western North Carolina, including Swannanoa, were transformed overnight by the massive storm. Muddy floodwaters lifted homes from their foundations. Landslides and overflowing rivers severed the only way in and out of small mountain communities. Rescuers said they were struggling to respond to the high number of emergency calls. Anxious relatives took to Facebook to search for loved ones they hadn't heard from.

"This is looking to be Buncombe County's own Hurricane Katrina," said Avril Pinder, the manager of the county, which includes Asheville.

This storm wasn't supposed to be this powerful.

But after everything that we just witnessed, it is now being projected that the total damage from Helene could exceed 100 billion dollars...

Helene, a Category 4 hurricane when she hit the Big Bend of Florida on Thursday night, is forecast to leave behind between $95 billion and $110 billion in damage and economic loss. Property damage alone is forecast by Moody's to run $15 billion to $26 billion.

Last year, the number of "billion dollar disasters" established a brand new record.

It appears that we will break that record this year.

But of course what we have been through so far is nothing compared to what is coming.

We really are living in apocalyptic times, and the chaos is just getting started...

Middle East on the brink: Israeli tanks mass at the border with Lebanon

Middle East on the brink: Israeli tanks mass at the border with Lebanon amid fears of imminent ground invasion - as West scrambles to prevent 'all out war' following IDF airstrikes in Yemen

Sabrina Miller

Charlie Faulkner

Hundreds of Israeli tanks have lined up along the Lebanon border as fears grow over an anticipated ground invasion that could plunge the Middle East into an all-out war.

It came as Israel also launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against Houthi ­targets in Yemen on Sunday amid fears that the raging conflict could spill out across the region.

The Israel-Hamas war has escalated in recent days after the IDF said it had wiped out Hezbollah's top brass in the airstrike on southern Beirut that killed the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Israeli troops and tanks were last night seen gathering in the north, on their border with southern Lebanon, in apparent preparation for a ground invasion. 

The last time Israel launched a ground offensive of Lebanon was in 2006, when 34 days of intense cross-border fighting with Hezbollah ended in a stalemate.

The United States has issued an 11th-hour appeal to both sides for restraint, with US president Joe Biden warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.

Several foreign embassies have now begun to evacuate non-essential staff as the country braces for the possibility of an all-out war. 

Continued airstrikes in Lebanon killed at least 100 people on Sunday, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

More..

The “Cluster” of Possible Human Bird Flu Infections Has Expanded to 8

The “Cluster” of Possible Human Bird Flu Infections Has Expanded to 8

Mac Slavo

A cluster of possible bird flu infections in Missouri has grown to include eight people. These eight could very well represent the first examples of person-to-person transmission of the H5N1 avian influenza in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.

Should these eight people be confirmed to have contracted bird flu, expect the ruling health authorities to start rolling out tyrannical measures to “control the spread,” much like they did with COVID. But we can likely expect this to be more severe.... we feel like it’s increasingly important to warn as many people as possible of this likelihood.

“We should be very concerned at this point,” said Dr. James Lawler, co-director of the University of Nebraska’s Global Center for Health Security. “Nobody should be hitting the panic button yet, but we should really be devoting a lot of resources into figuring out what’s going on.” If officials are able to confirm H5N1 infection in the household member or any of the health care workers, “it means the virus is inching closer and closer to what would be a real pandemic virus,” Lawler said according to the Seattle Times. “That is when Pandora’s box is open.”

We all know that the officials will be able to find anything that they are looking for. If they want to see bird flu spread from human to human, that’s what we’ll see.

Is the risk to humans still low, like they have been telling us for months? Some could see the writing on the wall with this one. Does anyone remember that they did this with CV too? It’s like we are reliving the same story all over again:

Only this time, the “vaccine” is already stockpiled for those naive enough to line up for it.

The small number of confirmed cases so far makes it difficult to estimate its virulence, said Caitlin Rivers, a public health researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “If we’re thinking about pandemic influenza, even in a worst-case scenario, only a tiny fraction of cases would be severe enough,” she said. “At the scale that we would expect pandemic influenza, you quickly get to numbers that overwhelm.”