Israel Launches Wide-Ranging Airstrikes In Three Waves Over Syria: Iranian And Hezbollah Targets

Syria: Wide-ranging Israel air strikes in three waves over Damascus region

Syrian sources reported shortly before midnight of Nov. 29, that Israeli air attacks had been ongoing from 21:30 over areas in the Damascus vicinity. 

Three waves of air and missile attacks had struck Al Kiswah, south of the capital, Qanaqar to the southwest, and Quneitra opposite Israel’s Golan border.

Arab broadcasting stations claimed that flames were rising over Damascus airport from targeted aircraft. 

Also hit, they reported, were pro-Iranian militias’ command posts and bases, various missile batteries and Hizballah forces.  None of these reports are officially confirmed. However, DEBKAfile’s military sources estimate that even if they are partly correct, Israel is conducting its most wide-ranging assault on Iranian and Hizballah targets in southwestern Syria since its major offensive of May 10 on 52 Iranian and Syrian sites.

The IDF has meanwhile reported that a missile was fired from Syria into Israeli Golan. It exploded on open ground. The spokesman denied any Israeli aircraft were hit by Syrian fire. According to Hizballah’s TV, all IDF bases on the Golan have been suddenly blacked out.

Syrian sources, including the official news agency SANA, reported Thursday night that Syria air defenses had repelled “hostiles targets” in the Al-Kiswah region south of Damascus and that the operation was still ongoing. Other sources claimed that the Israeli Air Force had attacked pro-Iranian militia concentrations in the same region. Some said there were Hizballah units present there. DEBKAfile: If those reports are confirmed, then this will be the third Israel attack by air or missile on targets in Syria since suspending its air strikes following the shooting down of a Russian spy plane on Sept. 17. Before that, Al Kiswah took a number of Israeli air strikes, the last occurring on May 10 against a shipment of Iranian Fatteh-313 missiles landing in Syria. Our military sources add that Al Kiswah is the seat of the Iranian command for South Syria which is headed by Maj. Gen. Hossein Hamadani.

Surface-To-Air Missile Projectile Falls In Golan As Syria Claims It Downed 'Targets'

IDF confirms projectile fell in Golan as Syria claims it downed 'targets'

The IDF spokesperson’s Unit confirmed that Israel’s air defense system identified a one Syrian surface-to-air missile projectile fell in open territory in the Golan Heights after the Syrian regime said it had downed “hostile targets” over the southern part of the country on Thursday night.

While IDF troops are scanning the area for the remnants, it is still unclear if the fell on the Syrian or Israeli side ‬of the Golan Heights.

According to local reports the downed targets were Israeli missiles which were targeting positions of Iranian proxy militias in southern Syria.

Israeli officials have repeatedly voiced concerns over the growing Iranian presence on its borders and the smuggling of sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah from Tehran to Lebanon via Syria, stressing that both are red-lines for the Jewish State.

With the presence of Iranian and Hezbollah forces, Israel’s northern front has become the IDF’s number one priority. Working to prevent the entrenchment of Iranian forces and the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah, the Israel Air Force has admitted to carrying out hundreds of airstrike in Syria. 

While Russia has recently provided the S-300 advanced anti-aircraft missile batteries to the Syrian regime, Israel has said that it will continue to operate in the war-torn country as long as Iran remains. 

Russia delivered the launcher, radar and command and control vehicle of the advanced air-to-surface missile system to Syria in early October as a response to the downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli airstrike on Iranian targets the previous month.

The system was deployed to Masyaf in northwestern Syria and is not believed to be operational yet.

Moscow said it would also impose electronic countermeasures over Syria’s coastline to suppress satellite navigation, onboard radar systems and communications of warplanes attacking targets on Syrian territory.

In May Israeli airstrikes targeted Iranian targets belonging to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp’s Quds Force and included intelligence sites, logistics headquarters, a military compound and logistics complex in Kiswah, weapons storage sites belonging at Damascus International Airport, intelligence systems and installations, as well as observation, military posts and military hardware in the buffer zone.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights at least 11 Iranians were among the 46 killed in Israel’s strikes which were in retaliation after 20 rockets were fired towards Israel’s front defensive line in the Golan Heights by the Quds For

New Home Sales Plunge 8.9 Percent: 'Housing Bubble 2'

Much Worse Than Expected: Experts Shocked As New Home Sales Plunge 8.9 Percent

The U.S. economy is definitely deviating from the script, and we just got more evidence that “Housing Bubble 2” is bursting.  Experts were expecting that new home sales in the U.S. would rise in October, but instead they plunged 8.9 percent.  That number is far worse than anyone was projecting, and many in the real estate industry are really starting to freak out.  And to be honest, things look like they are going to get even worse in 2019.  One survey found that the percentage of Americans that plan to buy a home over the next 12 months has fallen by about halfduring the past year.  Mortgage rates have steadily risen as the Federal Reserve has been hiking interest rates, and at this point most average Americans have been completely priced out of the market.  Home prices are going to have to come way down from where they are right now, and just as we witnessed in 2008, rapidly falling home prices can put an extraordinary amount of stress on the financial system.

Sales of new U.S. single-family homes tumbled to a more than 2-1/2-year low in October amid sharp declines in all four regions, further evidence that higher mortgage rates were hurting the housing market.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday new home sales dropped 8.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544,000 units last month. That was the lowest level since March 2016. The percent drop was the biggest since December 2017.

But of course it isn’t as if this latest report is coming out of nowhere.  The truth is that new home sales have fallen in four of the last six months, and so a very clear trend is now developing.

Sadly, most mainstream economists still don’t seem to be understanding what is happening.  According to Reuters, the consensus estimate was that we would see new home sales rise 3.7 percent in October, and so an 8.9 percent plunge came as a real shock.

New home sales have now missed expectations for seven months in a row, and the similarities to 2008 are starting to become undeniable.

Sales of previously owned homes have been falling as well.  In fact, in October we witnessed the largest drop for previously owned home sales in four years…

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes posted their largest annual decline since 2014 in October, as the housing market continues to sputter due to higher mortgage rates that are reducing home affordability.

If you want to blame someone for this mess, blame the Federal Reserve.

They created a “boom” in the housing market by pushing interest rates all the way to the floor during the Obama years, and now they are creating a “bust” by aggressively jacking up interest rates at a pace that our economy simply cannot handle.

If we had allowed the free market to be setting interest rates all this time, we would not be on such a roller coaster ride.

Just like during “Housing Bubble 1”, millions of Americans have been buying houses that they cannot afford, and that could mean another massive wave of mortgage defaults as this new economic downturn intensifies.  At this point, the debt to income ratio for mortgages insured by the FHA is at an all-time record high…

One worrying indicator: The average debt-to-income ratio for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which makes up about 22% of the housing market, is now at its highest level ever.

As housing prices fall, millions of Americans will suddenly find themselves “underwater” on their mortgages.  In other words, they will owe more on their homes than their homes are worth.  During the last recession, many “underwater” homeowners ultimately decided to walk away rather than continue to service ridiculously bloated mortgages.

But the truth is that economic conditions are not likely to remain stable.  In fact, many are projecting that the approaching downturn will be even worse than 2008.

In such a scenario, millions of Americans will lose their jobs, and that means that millions of Americans will suddenly not be able to make their mortgage payments.  As a result, mortgage defaults will skyrocket and home prices will drop like a rock.  Just like last time around, there could be people that wake up one day and realize that they owe two or three times as much money on their mortgages as their homes are currently worth, and the stampede of people walking away from “underwater” mortgages could become an avalanche.

Needless to say, millions of mortgages suddenly going bad is a scenario that our financial system is not equipped to handle.  What happened in 2008 was absolutely catastrophic for our large financial institutions, and what is coming is going to be even worse.

Of course the big financial institutions will want the federal government to bail them out, but there may not be much of an appetite for more corporate bailouts this time around.

And considering the fact that we are already 22 trillion dollars in debt, we can’t exactly afford to be throwing money around.

The Federal Reserve has set the stage for a giant mess, and it is going to shake the housing industry to the core

Disease Spreading Among Migrants In Mexico

Thousands of Caravan Migrants in Tijuana Being Treated For Health-Related Issues, Including TB, HIV/AIDS

Mexican officials are reporting that more than one-third of the 6,000 Honduran caravan migrants currently camped out in Tijuana are being treated for health-related issues.

Some of the migrants are suffering from highly dangerous and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, chickenpox and HIV/AIDS.

There is also a threat of a Hepatitis outbreak because of the unsanitary conditions with the 35 portable bathrooms.

Migrants who came with the caravan are suffering from respiratory infections, tuberculosis, chickenpox and other serious health issues, Tijuana’s Health Department warned on Thursday morning.

The spokesman told Fox News that out of 6,000 migrants currently residing in the city, over a third of them (2,267) are being treated for health-related issues.

There are three confirmed cases of tuberculosis, four cases of HIV/AIDS and four separate cases of chickenpox, the spokesman said.

Migrants in the caravan stuck in Tijuana, Mexico, announced a hunger strike Thursday morning, according to reports as they ramp up their efforts to cross the border.

More Hondurans and Salvadorans are headed to Tijuana, Mexico, the city that borders San Diego, California, with the intention of crossing into the US legally or illegally.

Last weekend hundreds of Hondurans stormed the San Ysidro port of entry and were repelled by tear gas deployed by US border patrol agents.

The last thing the US needs are thousands of diseased migrants who will be totally dependent on government assistance. None of these migrants should be permitted to enter the United States.

Kremlin: Putin Ready To Hold Talks With Trump

Putin Ready for Holding Contacts with Trump

The Kremlin regrets the decision of the US administration to cancel the planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Argentina, the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday.

"We regret the decision of the US administration to cancel the planned meeting between the two presidents in Buenos Aires… This means that the discussion of serious international and bilateral issues is being delayed for an uncertain period of time," Peskov said.

"As for Russian President Vladimir Putin, he is ready for holding contacts with his US counterpart," the Kremlin spokesman added.

Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that the United States and Russia should continue dialogue to preserve the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty that is fundamental for global security.

"We still stand for continuing consultations with a view to preserve the INF Treaty as one of the cornerstones of international security," Antonov said on Thursday during his speech at Princeton University.

Earlier, Donald Trump said that he decided to cancel a scheduled meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina. US President's announcement comes less than an hour after he claimed it was a 'very good time' to meet with Putin, but that he would make a decision after receiving a full report on the Kerch Strait incident.