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- Executive Producers:
- Sir Onymous of Dogpatch and Lower Slobbovia
- Sir Bob the Unready of the Hilltop
- Sir Roland, Knight of all Polynesia
- Associate Executive Producers
- Keith and Ruth Ann Rittgers
- Become a member of the 1475 Club, support the show here
- Knights & Dames
- Bob Danielson -> Sir Bob the Unready of the Hilltop
- Roland Sherwood -> Sir Roland, Knight of all Polynesia
- Aidan Kunath -> Sir Aidan, Mayor of Titty City
- John Someone > Sir Blocked Emails
- End of Show Mixes: Deez Laughs - Neal Jones - Hugh Allison
- Engineering, Stream Management & Wizardry
- Mark van Dijk - Systems Master
- Ryan Bemrose - Program Director
- Clip Custodian: Neal Jones
- VAERS
- Not admitted to ER because negative covid BOTG
- AJ Freedom of Speech?
- AJ Trial 3 camera shoot with jury shots by same production company that did the Michael Jackson documentary
- Monkey Pox
- Gays are getting vaccinated and are worried, don't realize they are being singled out
- Jim on MSM and pronouns
- As a gay man of 56, we’ve been through this name-changing bullshit so many times that we just don’t care anymore. The media and PC crowd are a tempest in a teapot. This is the equivalent of the white liberals Coining the term “Latinx”. They constantly insist on telling us what we need to call ourselves. The fact is: you are correct, there is no real “community” until we have a common enemy in a politician or law that may adversely affect us. Otherwise, we are pretty separate and even have divisions based on age, body type, and other factors. The only time this so-called “community” comes together on its own is for Pride to my experience. All that being said, I don’t speak for any community I’m just speaking for myself.
- MSWM
- It’s been great listening to you and John deconstruct “men who have sex with men” and where that phrase came from.
- I have been hearing that for years now. As an LCSW who did a big chunk of my training in NYC - in what I can admit now were fairly precious, liberal circles - I heard this a lot. I worked in an outpatient HIV clinic and heard this term there too. We’d say this to describe guys who were in heterosexual relationships and/or wouldn’t claim to be gay but liked to have sex with guys (splitting hairs, I know). In other words, dudes who we used to just refer to as “being on the down low.” This could also be used to talk in a sensitive and social-worky way to describe people who were incarcerated and not gay but had limited options for sex partners, so to speak.
- Anyway it feels like it’s just a new PC way to say “down low” - a term that I think originated in the black community so I’d be interested to hear Moe’s perspective too.
- Just dropping you a line because that’s always how I’ve heard this used over the years. In fact in chart notes we’d sometimes abbreviate this to “MSM” which of course has always given me a kick when the show uses that for the media.
- Love you, love moe, sometimes I even love JCD.
- The Q in LGBTQ
- The issue is that the L, G, B, and T can all be normalized and folded into what is considered to be acceptable in our society. The Q however defines itself in opposition to whatever the norms may be. It's essentially a moving target that can never be satiated by concessions given to it. It's basically a political identity for Marxists that want their perpetual revolution and to overthrow our current society. I don't have any unique insight on this beyond what I've learned from following the work of Lindsay, but I think you may find this to be illuminating.
- BLM LGBBTQQIAAPK+ Noodle Boy
- The Q in LGBTQ
- The issue is that the L, G, B, and T can all be normalized and folded into what is considered to be acceptable in our society. The Q however defines itself in opposition to whatever the norms may be. It's essentially a moving target that can never be satiated by concessions given to it. It's basically a political identity for Marxists that want their perpetual revolution and to overthrow our current society. I don't have any unique insight on this beyond what I've learned from following the work of Lindsay, but I think you may find this to be illuminating.
- China
- Pelosi blue shoes and shirt
- Millennials
- Producers Present: State of Millennials
- A presentation I think you'd find worth flipping through.
- Related to your segment a few months ago when you mentioned the Millennials in TX who are trying to find a way to make gains in this economy.
- A group of six producers in the Millennial generation worked together to make this, and we're happy if you share it as a bit of a wake up call to any other Millennial producers. We originally used this to solve a mutual problem - our parents, all boomers, did not seem to understand how different the economy is for Millennials.
- Max Nick Jay Sam Taylor and Ian
- War on Guns
- Good Samaritan law
- Sir HMFIC Baron of the US Armed Forces here. Not overboard, just busy. Been hearing you and JCD discuss the guy who stopped the Indiana mall shooting constantly being referred to as a good Samaritan and thinking it is the media demeaning him. There is an angle that I haven’t heard you discuss yet and wanted to bring up. I had a different thought on it. The term was first used to describe him by the police chief, as well as others from the area, which was then picked up by the media.
- I think that might have been intentional for the chief to use that term as Indiana has Good Samaritan laws that protect those that intervene from facing civil liability. I believe that it was the authorities doing the kid a solid by framing his actions as good Samaritan and getting the narrative started in the attempt to shield him from legal action by the family of the would be mass shooter or other anti-gun entities.
- The Indiana Good Samaritan Law states that a person who comes upon the scene of an emergency or accident and who, in good faith, gratuitously renders emergency care is immune from civil liability.
- While the statute specifically focuses on emergency medical care, it could be successfully argued that he was coming to the aid of the people injured from gunshots and provided care in the form of a lead injection to the perpetrator that prevented further injuries and allowed for life-saving medical care.
- Summary of the law: https://www.wkw.com/personal-injury/faqs/what-is-the-good-samaritan-law/
- Text of actual statute: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/laws/2020/ic/titles/34/articles/30/chapters/12/sections/1/pdf/IC%2034-30-12-1
- Interested in your thoughts.
- Houston gun buyback scam
- I thought you might get a kick out of this. Houston PD did a gun buyback this weekend, and the lines were crazy long. This is why. Someone gamed the system. These guns are about $20 in filament to print.
- Food Intelligence
- USDA cracking down on salmonella in chicken products - CBS Sacramento
- "The federal government on Monday announced proposed new regulations that would force food processors to reduce the amount of salmonella bacteria found in some raw chicken products..."
- "USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Sandra Eskin said it marks the beginning of a broader agency effort..."
- This came up in my news feed, and I'm trying to make sense of it. What changed that salmonella is suddenly a problem again?
- The article mentions "breaded" chicken, so is this just about shit food getting worse?
- Climate Change
- Roadside fires
- Second, after a recent fire back where I grew up, Cal Fire let slip something interesting. One reason for so many roadside fires is actually vehicle emissions hardware issues. As catalytic converters get older, they start to break down. Little pieces of them chip off and float around in there, heating up and heating up, and bouncing around on the road until they bounce just right, to be thrown from the vehicle. They land in dry grass on the roadside and start a fire. A friend of my father’s almost lost his home to one such fire 2 weeks ago and that is what the arson investigator told him. These are becoming increasingly common.
- Robert - Registered Professional Forester
- A Drone Again
- House’s ‘Irregular Warfare’ Provision Risks Unintended War - Defense One
- Congress may be sleepwalking the United States into war, potentially with a nuclear state. A provision in the recently passed House version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act would expand the U.S. military’s ability to use proxy forces for “irregular warfare” operations against Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China. It’s not clear how many lawmakers were aware of the provision—much less considered how the military’s use of foreign proxies can escalate into direct military conflict. The Senate should reject this dangerous measure in its consideration of the bill.
- The House-passed bill codifies and increases the budget of the “1202 authority,” a provisional authority from 2018 that has allowed the military to secretly recruit, train, and pay foreign forces and private individuals to conduct irregular warfare operations on behalf of the United States. To date, 1202 programs have been non-kinetic in nature: information and intelligence operations targeting so-called “rogue regimes” and “revisionist powers” in Eastern Europe and East Asia, as the Pentagon sets its sights on great power competition. But nothing prevents the military from using the 1202 authority to send proxy forces into combat.
- Ukraine Russia
- Hal Turner Radio Show - Ongoing Gunfire on Serbia-Kosovo Border; Air Raid Sirens Sounding in Kosovo
- STORIES
- Hal Turner Radio Show - Ongoing Gunfire on Serbia-Kosovo Border; Air Raid Sirens Sounding in Kosovo
- As of 2:55 PM EDT Sunday, there is an outbreak of gunfire between forces of Serbia and of Kosovo. Lengthy and ongoing gun battles are reported to be taking place as Serbian troops reportedly crossed the border into Kosovo.
- Video from the area allows the hearing of air raid sirens:
- Additional reports coming in as of 2:59 PM claim there is now open and ongoing gunfire at "all border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo."
- Other reports say that Serbian civilians are erecting ROAD BLOCKS on all roads between Serbia and Kosovo. The makeshift roadblocks look like this one:
- Aleksandr Vucic, President of Serbia: "The Serbs will not suffer any more cruelty, we will win if someone dares to persecute or kill the Serbs in Kosovo." The Serbian Army has been ordered to prepare for combat.
- Serbian Special Forces are presently entering the border of Kosovo . . . .
- Kosovo border police have blocked the bridge going into Serbia from Mitrovica
- Gunfire heard in Novi Pazar, Serbia
- Additional Roadblocks now in Serbia:
- UPDATE 1:04 AM EDT MONDAY --
- My son arrived at my house in Pennsylvania early Sunday afternoon. There was a lot of electronic stuff that needed doing, and I've been trying to get him to come up for weeks, to get it done.
- So around twelve hours ago, my time had to go to taking care of that work, and not this web site.
- We got accomplished what we had hoped; the entire acreage of the property is now wi-fi enabled, with a "mesh" enabled grouping of access points that will "hand-off" from one to another to maintain wi-fi connectivity over the entire property.
- Up here in very rural Pennsylvania, and especially at this house, even cellular connectivity is spotty, never mind a full property, meshed, wi-fi. So that's done now.
- We had a minor issue with the ground of an electrical outlet, that's fixed.
- My mom's old 42" plasma TV needed to be mounted to the wall instead of setting on an entertainment center; that's done.
- There's other stuff that needed doing as well, and we're getting to all of it.
- The crawl space under the house has "Spider Crickets." Ugly, annoying bugs that look like this:
- I've been meaning to hit the crawl space with SEVIN DUST pesticide for quite some time, just didn't get around to it. But I did that yesterday.
- Bought the type that attaches to a garden hose, went under there, and doused the whole thing. Had to get out because of the fumes.
- What I didn't realize while I was doing it, was that the mold and mildew under there, which I had treated months ago, was going to have a field day with the water from that same garden hose.
- About four hours later, I walked outside and there was this hideous blast of mildew smell emanating from under the house. The SEVIN DUST is killing the spider crickets, but the water-based application caused the mildew to run wild.
- So when my son was coming up this morning, I told him to stop at the Home Depot and get a 10" 900 cubic feet per minute, commercial exhaust fan.
- We put it in the Bilco Doors to the crawl space and let the exhaust fan rip. WHOA the mildew smell that came out.
- Anyway, while my son did other work around the house, I had to go down to the lower level and cut the grass before it grew so tall as to make it darn near impossible to cut with a riding mower. I cut the grass.
- Around 6:00 last night, my son and I went to dinner. Got home around 7:30.
- Local neighbor stopped by to say hi, left about 9:00 and I was bone tired.
- I told my son I was going to bed.
- Around 12:30 this morning (Sunday-into-Monday) I woke up with a friggin COUGH like you won't believe!
- Hack, hack, hack, gasp, hack hack hack.
- Oh man, I don't need this shit.
- Now, I've been taking my Whole Foods Natural multi-vitamins every day. I also take 8000 units of Vitamin D-3, along with Vitamin K-2, I take Zinc Picolinate along with Quercetin. I take Co-Enyme-Q-10, and Straus' Heart Drops. I drink an immune-building Glutathione Whey Protein mix too. I take NAC and I take Lauricidin (active ingredient Monolaurin).
- So my nutritional intake is long-established and specifically designed to boost my immune system and render any lipid-envelope-based Virus, wrecked within minutes of entering my system. That's what Lauriciden does; although it is not marketed for that purpose, one of its effects is that the active ingredient is, for some reason, amazingly able to penetrate the outer viral envelope of any virus that has a lipid envelope. This causes a lipid-envelope-encased-virus to immediately swell; like a dry sponge being hit with water. As the lipid envelope swells, it cannot open to expel its viral R N A into a cell that it binds-to, because its own outer lipid envelope is so swollen. Within a short while, the saturated lipid envelope begins to disintegrate from the monolaurin it is now saturated with, rendering the virus harmless.
- Given the fact that I have a long and well established history of taking precisely the right nutritional supplements outlined above, to have an absolutely KICK ASS IMMUNE SYSTEM, and have been taking all this stuff since early in the COVID bullshit (because I did not want their phony mRNA "vaccine") and I have NOT been sick through all of it. . . .I figure this nasty cough is either the mildew from the crawlspace, or a nasty allergy to whatever may have been in the grass I cut hours earlier. My bet is the mildew.
- I have NO FEVER . I do have congestion in my chest. Nasal mucus is completely clear, no tinge of color at all.
- I have AMOXICILLIN and I have access to HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE. I also have access to Ivermectin as horse paste.
- So what I did: I took a 500 mg AMOXICILLIN and a dose of Lauricidin.
- Then I went to the yard and . . . . . . . . . . . . . smoked a cigarette! Yes, that is precisely what a grown man who has chest congestion and a cough does!
- Now I'm at my desk giving you some updates. Coughing is subsiding .
- BeyonceÌ Confirmed She Will Remove an Ableist Slur From a Song on 'Renaissance' | Glamour
- Only a few days have passed since BeyonceÌ's newest album, Renaissance, changed our lives. But the release wasn't completely without controversy. The Grammy winner is now facing backlash over a lyric that contains an ableist slur.
- The disabled community called out the pop star's song ''Heated,'' which includes the lyrics, ''spazzing on that ass, spaz on that ass.''
- According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, in the U.S., spaz is popular slang meaning ''go crazy,'' which is its intent within the lyrics of ''Heated.'' But the word, while generally used to mean the latter domestically, is an ableist insult in the U.K. and other countries (including to some people in the U.S.) since it refers to the medical condition spastic paralysis. In a statement sent to Insider, a rep for BeyonceÌ confirmed that the lyric will be changed. ''The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,'' the statement said.
- Back in June, Lizzo released the song ''Grrrls,'' which also contained the word. Lizzo responded to the backlash promptly. Instead of doubling down, the singer changed the lyrics to the song and posted a statement on her social media addressing her mistake and subsequent correction.
- ''It's been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song, 'GRRRLs,''' Lizzo said in the statement. ''Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language. As a fat black woman in America, I've had many hurtful words used against me so I [understand] the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally). As an influential artist I'm dedicated to being part of the change I've been waiting to see in the world,'' Lizzo said.
- Beyonc(C) hasn't yet debuted the new lyric, but we're guessing it's going to keep us dancing.
- USDA cracking down on salmonella in chicken products - CBS Sacramento
- The federal government on Monday announced proposed new regulations that would force food processors to reduce the amount of salmonella bacteria found in some raw chicken products or risk being shut down.
- The proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture rules would declare salmonella an adulterant '-- a contaminant that can cause food-borne illness '-- in breaded and stuffed raw chicken products. That includes many frozen foods found in grocery stores, including chicken cordon bleu and chicken Kyiv products that appear to be cooked through but are only heat-treated to set the batter or breading.
- The agency notified producers of the proposed changes on Friday. USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Sandra Eskin said it marks the beginning of a broader agency effort to curtail illnesses caused by the salmonella bacteria, which sickens 1.3 million Americans each year. It sends more than 26,000 of them to hospitals and causes 420 deaths, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
- Food is the source for most of those illnesses. The CDC says approximately one in every 25 packages of chicken sold at grocery stores contains salmonella bacteria.
- Since 1998, breaded and stuffed raw chicken products have been associated with 14 salmonella outbreaks and approximately 200 illnesses, the USDA said in a statement. An outbreak last year tied to frozen breaded raw chicken products caused 36 illnesses in 11 states and sent 12 people to hospitals.
- Better testingThe USDA has performance standards that poultry processing plants have to meet to reduce contamination, but the agency cannot stop products from being sold. There is also no adequate testing system to determine levels of salmonella in meat, Eskin said.
- The proposed new rules require routine testing at chicken processing plants. Products would be considered adulterated when they exceed a very low level of salmonella contamination and would be subject to regulatory action, including shuttering plants that fail to reduce salmonella bacteria levels in their products, Eskin said.
- "This action and our overall salmonella initiative underscore our view that our job is to ensure that consumers don't get sick from meat and poultry products," she said. "They shouldn't be sold if they're contaminated to the degree that people get sick."
- In 1994, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service took a similar step by declaring some strains of E. coli a contaminant in ground beef and launched a testing program for the pathogen.
- Report alleges FDA leadership is failing to ensure food safety 07:49 Eskin said the agency met with food safety experts and poultry processors for ideas on how to reduce contamination in processing.
- Representatives of the National Chicken Council, a trade group, and Tyson Foods said they would withhold comment until they received details of the new USDA rule.
- Diana Souder, a spokeswoman for Maryland-based Perdue Farms, also declined to comment but pointed out that the company belongs to the Coalition for Poultry Safety Reform, a group formed last year to work with USDA and others to reduce foodborne illnesses from salmonella contamination.
- The new rules will be published in the Federal Register this fall and the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service will seek public comment before finalizing the rules and setting a date for implementation.
- In: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Salmonella Iowa Agriculture
- CNN Profits Are Down as Ratings Plummet - The New York Times
- The network is on a pace to drop below $1 billion in profit for the first time in years, according to people familiar with its operations, amid steep declines in TV viewership.
- Chris Licht, chairman and chief executive of CNN, has told producers at the network not to worry about ratings. Credit... Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Aug. 2, 2022
- One of the first moves the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery made when it took over CNN was shutting down CNN+, the nascent streaming service that was touted as the network's bridge to the future.
- The next month, when Chris Licht took over as CNN's chairman, he told employees in his first town hall meeting not to worry about ratings, a mainstay of TV news used as a benchmark for revenue and relevance.
- Now, three months into Mr. Licht's tenure, the network finds itself facing big questions about how it can continue to expand its business with its moonshot streaming service dead and the traditional TV business in structural decline.
- Projections from S&P Global Market Intelligence say CNN's profitability is on a pace to decline to $956.8 million this year. That would mark the first time since 2016 that the network had dipped below $1 billion in profit, according to three people familiar with its operations.
- Two people familiar with CNN's operations said the network's initial 2022 profitability target was $1.1 billion, which Mr. Licht is on track to miss by more than $100 million. But another person familiar with the matter said that by the accounting of company executives, Mr. Licht was on track to meet a profitability target of roughly $950 million for the year, since the network's initial budget didn't account for losses associated with launching the CNN+ streaming service.
- However the numbers are crunched, inside CNN the hunt is on for new revenue. To help solve the financial puzzle, Mr. Licht has tapped Chris Marlin, a longtime friend who was recently an executive at the Florida home builder Lennar. Mr. Marlin '-- whom some CNN employees have taken to calling ''Fish Man,'' a takeoff on his surname '-- had no experience operating a cable news network, having worked at the law firms Foley & Lardner and Holland & Knight.
- Mr. Marlin has floated a variety of revenue-generating ideas since joining CNN, including striking advertising deals with major tech companies like Microsoft. Mr. Marlin has also mentioned selling sponsorships to corporate underwriters, extending CNN's brand in China and expanding CNN Underscored, an e-commerce initiative.
- CNN's parent has also cracked down on expenses. In July, CNN employees received a revised travel and expense policy that, among other things, restricts spending on work celebrations for senior vice presidents and below to $50 per person (''no cap for C.E.O. of W.B.D.,'' the policy reads). And Mr. Licht has found ways to make coverage more economical, including a recent decision not to send a U.S.-based special events team to Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.
- Mr. Licht, who took over CNN in May after a corporate merger made Warner Bros. Discovery its parent company, has tried to sell its staff on a vision for the network that isn't tethered to traditional TV ratings. During a meeting with employees his first week, Mr. Licht said CNN would generate revenue by pitching advertisers on the network's ''pristine brand,'' not just sheer audience size, according to a recording of his remarks obtained by The New York Times.
- ''I don't want producers making decisions based on what they think will rate,'' Mr. Licht said, according to the recording.
- Image Chris Wallace was one of several journalists hired for CNN+, which has since been shut down. Credit... Andrew Mangum for The New York Times A CNN spokesman said Mr. Licht was also focused on expanding the network's traditional TV viewership, describing his recommendations to producers as ''editorial guidance'' rather than ''business strategy.'' The spokesman said Mr. Licht had not yet put his stamp on the network's programming, adding that Mr. Licht projects the network's profits will increase in 2023.
- Ratings are down from their Trump-era heights across cable news, but declines at CNN are particularly pronounced. The network has drawn an average of 639,000 people in prime time this quarter, according to data from Nielsen, a 27 percent decrease from a year ago. It trails MSNBC, which is down 23 percent in prime time during the same period, and Fox News, where viewership is up about 1 percent.
- CNN has spent millions covering the war in Ukraine, two people familiar with its operations said, and the network is still paying some costs associated with CNN+, such as the salaries of high-profile journalists like Chris Wallace and Audie Cornish, which have also weighed on the bottom line.
- The network is trying to defray costs associated with CNN+ by selling some of the programming created for the streaming service to other providers, including HBO Max, which Warner Bros. Discovery also owns.
- Executives at CNN's corporate parent are examining the media empire '-- which includes the Turner cable networks and channels like Food Network '-- to find roughly $3 billion in cost savings.
- But Mr. Licht told employees at the town hall meeting in May that he didn't expect Warner Bros. Discovery to impose additional layoffs at CNN after the shutdown of CNN+.
- ''No one has said to me, 'You're going to have to go cut this,''' Mr. Licht said, according to the recording. ''I think there's an acute understanding that they don't know our business.''
- The bulk of CNN's revenue comes from long-term subscription deals with cable companies and from traditional TV advertising revenue, said Steve Cahall, a senior analyst at Wells Fargo. When those advertisers make spending decisions, they are concerned primarily with total audience size, Mr. Cahall said.
- ''If the strategy delivers more reach '-- that is, more ratings '-- then it's probably a better business,'' he said. ''If it delivers less reach '-- if it turns out that the middle is a narrow place to be these days in America '-- then it's a less good business strategy.''
- Analysis: U.S. banks face trillion-dollar reverse repo headache | Reuters
- The Federal Reserve building is pictured in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie/File Photo
- Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The trillions of dollars in overnight cash tucked away daily at the Federal Reserve could turn into a major headache for banks that could squeeze their balance sheets and impair their ability to lend.
- The Fed's reverse repurchase facility (RRP) has attracted a wide array of market participants, helping mop up excess liquidity in the financial system. Led by money market funds, volume at the reverse repo window has topped $2 trillion for 39 straight days.
- The Fed is paying a record reverse repo rate of 2.3% following its 75-basis-point interest rate hike last week. Barclays expects daily reverse repo levels to hit between $2.8 trillion and $3.0 trillion by the end of the year.
- Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comInvestors are effectively taking deposits away from banks and putting them into government money market funds, which invest mainly in Treasuries and repos. These money funds, in turn, funnel the cash to the Fed's overnight window.
- Repo allocations from government money market funds have increased to nearly 40% of their assets currently, from around 30% at the start of the year, Barclays said.
- The Fed will shrink its balance sheet by $95 billion per month from September, accelerating "quantitative tightening," which started in June. The concern is that the outflow of deposits from banks into money market funds could reduce bank reserves at a rapid pace that could hinder lending activities to financial markets and the broader economy.
- Bank Reserves decliningThe decline in bank reserves could also lead to a spike in the repo and effective fed funds rate similar to what happened in September 2019 when bank reserves dwindled due to heavy withdrawals for tax payments and settlement of Treasury purchases at auctions. That forced the Fed to provide additional reserves to the banking system.
- "The drift of reserves into money market funds and away from banks constitute movement of money away from financial markets," said Matt Smith, investment director at asset manager Ruffer in London, which has $31 billion in assets under management.
- For now, bank reserves are still considered abundant at $3.3 trillion, but the decline has been rapid, some market participants said. From a peak of nearly $4.3 trillion in December last year, bank reserves have declined about 23%. In the Fed's previous quantitative tightening (QT), $1.3 trillion in liquidity was withdrawn in five years.
- To be sure, there are other factors that have contributed to the decline in bank reserves, such as asset re-allocations and loan demand, analysts said.
- MONEY MARKET FUND ASSETSGovernment money market fund assets have been fairly steady as of July 27, at $4.025 trillion, up about 0.1% from a week earlier, data from the Investment Company Institute showed. The shift of deposits to money funds has been a slow process.
- "The Fed's QT will shrink its balance sheet quickly. But bank reserves are set to fall much faster as cash shifts out of bank deposits to government-only money funds. We expect money funds to put this cash in the RRP," wrote Joseph Abate, managing director at Barclays, in a research note.
- Expectations that the U.S. Treasury will increase bill issuance for fiscal year 2023, which starts in October, could help ease the surfeit of inflows into the reverse repo window, analysts said.
- Abate estimated that bank reserves will fall to $2.3 trillion this year, perilously near what he termed banks' "minimally ample level" of $2 trillion, as the exit of deposits starts to weigh on their balance sheets.
- Yet for many big banks, those deposits are unwanted anyway.
- As the Fed's balance sheet increased with quantitative easing during the pandemic, so did bank reserves deposited at the central bank. Once reserves reached a level at which banks were not willing to absorb the regulatory costs on their balance sheets, they started turning deposits away.
- The Fed in April 2020 temporarily excluded Treasuries and central bank deposits from the supplementary leverage ratio (SLR), a capital adequacy measure, as an excess of bank deposits and Treasury bonds raised bank capital requirements on what are viewed as safe assets.
- But the Fed let that SLR exclusion expire and big banks had to resume holding an extra layer of loss-absorbing capital against Treasuries and central bank deposits.
- "Banks are still not keen to increase deposits due to regulatory costs in the absence of SLR relief and want to free up their balance sheet," said Imran Siddiqui, portfolio manager at Mosaic Capital. "In a subtle way, they are sending a message to the Fed to provide some form of permanent SLR relief."
- Should the Fed tweak the SLR and give banks breathing room on regulatory costs, that should push these financial institutions to accept more deposits and help stabilize reserves. The Fed earlier this year said it would review this leverage ratio, but has yet to publish a proposal.
- Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Alden Bentley and Leslie Adler
- Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
- Rachel Levine Is a Quack Promoted by Pharma-Backed Advocacy Group to Normalize Disembodiment
- How does a dangerous man like Dr. Rachel Levine wind up in the White House, spewing potentially deadly information to the public about drugs to treat children distressed about their sexed bodies? He was backed by The Victory Institute, which works to get LGBTQ activists into top levels of power in the US.
- According to the group's website. ''When LGBTQ presidential appointees are empowered, they can significantly influence the policies and direction of agencies and the executive branch to make positive change for LGBTQ people.''
- Read: In this instance, push forward gender identity industry policies and laws that harm children and profit the medical-industrial complex by promoting dissociation from one's sexed body as progressive.
- Levine is exactly what The Victory Institute is looking for, and during his stint as Biden's Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, he has worked to press the administration, and the nation, into accepting the idea that children can change their sex. This despite findings that show unequivocally the dangers both of the drugs used to halt puberty, and the life altering, reproductive ending, effects of surgeries. Levine transitioned later in life, after fathering children, a lengthy marriage, and a long medical career.
- Levine, a man with a paraphilia that compulsively objectifies womanhood, reducing their sexed humanity to parts, told the US public on July 18 that kids needed to be empowered to change their sex. He touted this as ''gender affirmation'' treatment'--a euphemism for invasive medical procedures on children's sex, which are known to have harmful and long-lasting effects on their health.
- Biden's Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine: "We really want to '... affirm and to support and empower these youth, not to limit their participation in activities '... and even limit their ability to get gender affirmation treatment in their state." pic.twitter.com/a2ttBktM6d
- '-- The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 18, 2022
- The Food and Drug Administration, run by Levine's Department of Health and Human Services, had only a few weeks earlier identified that puberty blockers carry a risk of brain damage to children. It's not possible that Levine, a pediatrician, was unaware of this. These known side effects in adults were reported at least as early as 1996, when women with endometriosis and men with late-stage prostate cancer prescribed the drug were reported to present with the same side effects. Dr. Laidlaw, an endocrinologist in Rocklin, California, has spoken about the dangers of these unapproved drugs for children for years.
- Levine's paraphilia, colloquially known as transsexualism, has been rebranded to transgenderism for today's youth to open markets in medical manipulations of sex. Normalizing this paraphilia, with the escalating prominence of the men who have it at all fronts of society, along with media promotion of it as progressive, edgy, cool, and part of a human rights movement, serves to drive further investments by elites in clinics to manipulate sex characteristics and assisted fertility treatments that will be needed later in life by children who are now being sterilized and otherwise harmed by these drugs. This industry is a direct outgrowth of the creation of synthetic sex characteristics that mimic women's biology for men to assuage their fetish
- Launched in 1993, the Victory Institute purportedly works to achieve and sustain global equality for people identifying as LGBTQ. This is done through leadership development and training to increase the number of openly LGBTQ elected and appointed officials at all levels of government. The Victory Institute has expanded its programming to include the Presidential Appointments Initiative'--which works to place openly LGBTQ appointees in pro-equality presidential administrations. Levine is a man functioning within the confines of his sexual compulsion of autogynephilia. He is a product of these efforts by the Victory Institute to put men with this paraphilia in positions of power.
- According to the LGBTQ Victory Institute, in November 2020, they and their partners ''were working with the transition team to field and identify potential candidates for appointed positions in the Biden-Harris administration,'' the group continued, further explaining that their goals included pressing the Biden administration to have an LGBTQ cabinet member, an LGBTQ Supreme Court justice, transgender ambassadors, and that ''openly LGBTQ people receive equitable representation among presidential appointees.''
- The ''pressing'' comes from the financial clout of the medical-industrial complex. Arcus Foundation is an American LGBT non-governmental organization (NGO) whose founder is heir to Stryker Medical, a $17.1 billion-dollar corporation with 54 branches in 37 countries. Jon Stryker funds his LGBT NGO directly from his stock in the Stryker medical corporation.
- He is poised to profit from driving gender identity ideology and normalizing the myth that humans can change sex with medical technology and pharmaceuticals. Arcus Foundation has funded Victory Institute $10 million dollars since 2004.
- Victory Institute's sponsorship list looks like a who's who of funding to normalize synthetic sex identities, including Jon Stryker (aside his foundation funding), Tim Gill and his LGBTQ NGO, Gill Foundation, Tides Foundation, Unilever, Pfizer'--one of the largest multi-national biopharma corporations worth nearly $52 billion and invested in gene therapy and genetics'--Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign, RBC Capital Markets, a global investment bank providing services in banking, finance, and capital markets to corporations, institutional investors, asset managers and governments globally, with locations spanning 70 offices in 15 countries across North America, the UK, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
- Google, Gilead, Comcast, AT&T, David Geffen, Jennifer Pritzker, and David Bohnett, to name a few, are also supporting synthetic sex identities as progressive and also fund Victory Institute.
- In February of 2020 during Levine's Senate confirmation hearings, he refused to answer the targeted questions of Senator Rand Paul on the issue of whether children should be allowed to make medical decisions about their sexed bodies without parental consent. Levine used an evasive statement suggesting that ''gender medicine'' is too complicated a field to provide an immediate answer as to whether children should be receiving life-altering drugs and surgeries without parental consent.
- Levine repeated this twice after being asked to clarify it the first time and completely failed to substantiate his position that children should be able to make these decisions. Now, a year and a half later, Levine is backing procedures that are known to cause permanent and long-standing harm to children and teens.
- Quoted in The New Civil Rights Movement, Annise Parker, the former Houston mayor who now serves as President and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, in a statement said, ''Rachel Levine's nomination is groundbreaking and shows the Biden administration will choose the most qualified individuals to lead our nation regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Dr. Levine is making history and will transform Americans' perceptions of 'trans' people when she takes office and begins to work on their behalf.''
- The drive to normalize synthetic sex identities under a human rights frame is a flagrant deception by the techno-medical complex to open markets in surgeries, drugs, and assisted fertility procedures for a generation of children they are sterilizing with puberty blockers.
- Men, like Rachel Levine, driven by this paraphilia to appropriate womanhood to assuage their compulsion, are given free rein in society to promote their paraphilia as healthy human expression. This has burgeoned into an industry where female reproductive capacity is being usurped by the techno-medical complex for profit.
- The men with this compulsion are being placed by elites via organizations like the Victory Institute in positions of power and prominence to normalize this industry which creates synthetic facsimiles of human sex characteristics for marketing while transferring more and more women's reproductive labor to the tech sector.
- Written By: Jennifer BilekJennifer Bilek is an artist, an environmentalist, and an investigative journalist living in New York City. She is the author of the 11th-hour blog, which reports on the intersections of technology, corporatism, and the synthetic sex industry. Bilek tweets at @bjportraits.
- "You Can't Switch Off Death": German Crematoriums Warn Of Energy Crisis | ZeroHedge
- It still might be peak summer, but German undertakers operating crematoriums warn they're at risk of running out of natural gas amid the unprecedented energy crunch.
- Much of Germany is feeling the strain from Russia's squeeze on NatGas' deliveries which has worried Svend-Joerk Sobolewski, Germany's cremation consortium chairman, according to Reuters.
- Sobolewski said crematoriums are developing contingency plans for high NatGas prices and the risk of shortages.
- Russian NatGas supplies have been reduced to just 20% of capacity as prices jumped 30% last week and electricity prices soared to a record, which indicates undertaker costs are getting more expensive.
- Germany's undertakers' association shows one million Germans die each year, and about 75% are cremated. Compared with other European countries, Germany has the highest cremation rates.
- The association's head, Stephan Neuser, said electric-powered furnaces could be an option, though a more immediate solution would be reducing the average temperature of ovens from the current 850 Celsius (1,562°F) to 750 degrees Celsius (1,382°F). This represents a 10% savings on NatGas, and he added further reductions could be made but need a special permit from state authorities.
- Some furnaces have been turned off to save NatGas, while others are left on around the clock. It's a move by the industry to create more efficiencies ahead of what could be a freezing winter.
- "In the event of a gas failure, we would be able to continue operating the plants that are hot ... That means we could then continue to work with reduced power," said Karl-Heinz Koensgen, who manages a crematorium in western Germany.
- Sobolewski said not all of the cremation facilities can decrease NatGas significantly. If facilities experience NatGas shortages in winter, a backlog of bodies might be seen as a limited number of ovens will be operating.
- "You cannot switch off death," he explained.
- Suppose Nord Stream flows remain at 20%. In that case, NatGas storage facilities (currently) at 68% full won't be able to reach the government's target of 95% by Nov. 1. It would create bottlenecks in the cremation industry and widespread economic turmoil could paralyze Europe's largest manufacturing hub.
- If the energy crisis worsens, Germans might have to bury their dead this winter and use firewood to heat homes.
- A catastrophic energy crisis will fuel a revolt against our failed elites
- This is the summer before the storm. Make no mistake, with energy prices set to rise to unprecedented highs, we are approaching one of the biggest geopolitical earthquake in decades. The ensuing convulsions are likely to be of a far greater order of magnitude than those that followed the 2008 financial crash, which sparked protests culminating in the Occupy Movement and the Arab Spring.
- The gathering crisis could prove even more catastrophic than the oil shock of the 1970s, which wrecked the administrations of three British prime ministers, presaged 40 years of American entanglement in the Middle East, and (due to the oil glut that followed) ultimately triggered the Soviet Union's collapse.
- Carnage has already arrived in the developing world, with power outages from Cuba to South Africa. Sri Lanka is just one of a cascade of low-income countries where leaders face being driven out of power in an ignominious blaze of petrol droughts and loan defaults.
- But the West is not going to escape this Armageddon. In fact, in many ways, it looks set to be its epicentre '' and Britain, its Ground Zero.
- In Europe and America, a technocratic elite system built on mythology and complacency is crumbling. Its founding fable '' which prophesied the nation states' glorious enmeshment in world government and supply chains '' has metastasised into a parable of the perils of globalisation.
- For all the attempts to depict the Ukraine war as a black swan event, a spike in basic commodity prices in a volatile world was perfectly predictable. People are left wondering why their leaders failed to make contingency plans, given that they sit on vast untapped reserves of gas, oil and coal. The EU was supine in the face of Putin's bid to keep the region's market divided and dominate its more compromised powers.
- Nor is there any explanation for this fiasco apart from decades of failed assumptions and policy missteps by our governing class. In the wake of the financial crash, the establishment just about managed to convince the public to submit to the purifying rigours of austerity, persuading voters that we all shared the blame for the crisis and must all play a role in atoning for the country's mistakes. This time, elites cannot shirk responsibility for the consequences of their fatal errors.
- Put simply, the emperor has no clothes. The establishment simply has no message for voters in the face of hardship. The only vision for the future it can conjure up is net zero '' a dystopian agenda that takes the sacrificial politics of austerity and financialisation of the world economy to new heights. Actively campaigning for boiler bans, 15mph speed limits, and speculative green bubbles may seem like madness. But it is a perfectly logical programme for an elite that has become unhinged from the real world.
- There are several countries where we might see the first signs of a resulting populist revolt. The Germans must swallow national humiliation along with higher energy bills, as their political leaders are taunted on the world stage for their naive bid to prioritise economic harmony and trade links over security. According to some analysts, France, which is no stranger to protest, could be the first in Europe to experience blackouts despite its sizeable nuclear industry. But it is Britain where things could truly blow.
- The UK may well be the tinderbox of Europe. With the ousting of Boris Johnson and his imminent replacement by a politician who will not have led his or her party into power via a general election, the political context is particularly febrile. Even more so given disillusionment at the waste of the past two years and the failure of the Government to capitalise on Brexit to renew the country.
- Moreover, Britain's consumers look set to be clobbered harder than most. We already have the highest inflation in the G7. But a succession of fatal policy mistakes '' from the closure of gas storage facilities to the failure to exploit our domestic oil and gas reserves '' mean that we will remain unnecessarily vulnerable to sky-high international energy prices for years to come, with all the pain that will bring consumers.
- Despite this, Britons are set to receive less assistance from the Government than their counterparts in other Western countries. The 5p cut in fuel duty has been estimated as the second smallest in Europe. While our politicians pontificate about insulating more homes at some point in the distant future, Spain has made many train journeys free until the end of the year. France has vowed to fully nationalise the energy giant EDF, which it had already forced to cap consumer bills.
- A civil disobedience movement, inspired by the poll tax revolt, has already been launched here in the UK. The Don't Pay campaign, which is urging people to join a ''mass non-payment strike'' when the energy price cap is raised in October, has gained thousands of online supporters.
- And if it does take off, what are the authorities going to be able to do about it? Such is the scale of the coming price rises that millions may simply be unable to pay their bills '' including pensioners and families hitherto part of the middle classes. The risk is that, bogged down with leadership hustings, the Tories realise too late that they need to act. The predicament we face is likely game-changing. We have barely begun to grasp how unpredictable the next few years are likely to be '' and how poorly prepared we are to face the consequences.
- If weaning ourselves off Russia '' a comparatively small economy '' is this painful, how are we to end our addiction to cheap goods from China? If we do manage to achieve a greater degree of energy self-reliance, how will we contend with the collapse of petrostates in the Middle East and the migration crisis that is likely to follow?
- This may sound like a grim prognosis, but particularly in Britain it does feel as if we just may have entered the final act of an economic system that has patently failed. It is clearer than ever that the emperor has no clothes and has no more stories to distract us with.
- Historic: Health care workers win $10.3 million settlement over COVID mandates | Just The News
- The Facts Inside Our Reporter's NotebookThe first settlement in the U.S. has been reached in a class action lawsuit filed by health care workers over a university system's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
- Chicago-based NorthShore University HealthSystem has agreed to pay more than 500 current and former health-care workers a total of $10,337,500 as part of the terms of the settlement. It's also changing its policy to accommodate religious exemption requests and rehiring former employees who were fired or forced to resign whose exemption requests were denied.
- Represented by the nonprofit religious freedom organization Liberty Counsel, NorthShore employees sued, alleging they were discriminated against because they were denied religious exemptions from the company's vaccine mandate. The settlement was filed Friday in the federal Northern District Court of Illinois.
- The is the ''first-of-its-kind class action settlement against a private employer who unlawfully denied hundreds of religious exemption requests to COVID-19 shots,'' Liberty Counsel said. Its founder and chairman, Mat Staver, said it ''should be a wake-up call to every employer that did not accommodate or exempt employees who opposed the COVID shots for religious reasons. Let this case be a warning to employers that violated Title VII.''
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
- The settlement nearly concludes a conflict that began after NorthShore rejected employees' religious accommodation requests to its ''Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy.'' Last October, Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter on behalf of the impacted employees but NorthShore didn't change its policy. As a result, Liberty Counsel filed a class action lawsuit.
- ''If NorthShore had agreed then to follow the law and grant religious exemptions, the matter would have been quickly resolved and it would have cost it nothing,'' Liberty Counsel said.
- While the parties have agreed to the settlement, it still has to be approved by the court. Employees of NorthShore who were denied religious exemptions will receive notice of the settlement and be given an opportunity to comment, object, request to opt out, or submit a claim form for payment within deadlines yet to be established by the court.
- The settlement requires NorthShore to change its ''no religious accommodations'' policy, which it has agreed to do, and provide religious accommodations in every position throughout its company.
- Employees who were terminated because their religious exemption requests were denied are now eligible to be rehired, according to the terms of the settlement. They can apply for positions at their previously held seniority level within 90 days of the court approving the final settlement.
- NorthShore's director of PR, Colette Urban, told The Center Square, ''We continue to support system-wide, evidence-based vaccination requirements for everyone who works at NorthShore '' Edward-Elmhurst Health and thank our team members for helping to keep our communities safe.
- ''The settlement reflects implementation of a new system-wide vaccine policy which will include accommodation for team members with approved exemptions, including former employees who are rehired.''
- The amount individuals will receive in payments will depend on how many valid and timely claim forms are submitted. If all, or nearly all, affected employees file valid and timely claims, it's estimated that those who were fired or forced to resign after their religious exemption requests were denied will receive approximately $25,000 each. Those who were vaccinated under duress in order to keep their jobs and against their religious beliefs will receive about $3,000 each.
- The 13 employees who were the lead plaintiffs will receive an additional payment of roughly $20,000 each. Liberty Counsel will receive 20% of the settlement amount of $2,061,500 to cover attorney fees and costs.
- Liberty Counsel's VP of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel Horatio G. Mihet said, ''The drastic policy change and substantial monetary relief required by the settlement will bring a strong measure of justice to NorthShore's employees who were callously forced to choose between their conscience and their jobs. This settlement should also serve as a strong warning to employers across the nation that they cannot refuse to accommodate those with sincere religious objections to forced vaccination mandates.''
- Staver added that it was ''especially significant and gratifying that this first classwide COVID settlement protects health care workers. Health care workers are heroes who daily give their lives to protect and treat their patients. They are needed now more than ever.''
- What Company Makes the Monkeypox Vaccine? Options, Explained
- The World Health Organization (WHO) shared last week that the monkeypox virus is spreading globally. So far, 12 nations where monkeypox isn't endemic have reported cases, with the U.S. seeing upwards of five cases in the last year. There's already a company producing a monkeypox vaccine, and the U.S. has its own supply.
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- Here's what to know about the company behind the Jyennos monkeypox vaccine, which became FDA-approved back in 2019.
- The FDA approved the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine in 2019.
- The FDA approved a monkeypox vaccine called Jynneos in 2019. The vaccine even works after exposure to the virus, which makes it more effective at treating this rare but serious condition.
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- Monkeypox is endemic (regularly found among people) in Central and West Africa. Now, global cases are beginning to pop up even from people who haven't traveled to endemic regions. This is inflating the concern for monkeypox.
- Jynneos (also called Imvamune or Imvanex) is a two-dose monkeypox vaccine suited for people 18 years of age or older. The same vaccine also works to prevent smallpox. The company behind the monkeypox vaccine is called Bavarian Nordic A/S.
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- Bavarian Nordic is a public company trading on the over-the-counter market under the ticker symbol ''BVNRY.'' The company is headquartered in Denmark and spearheaded by president and CEO Paul Chaplin. Chaplin has been at the helm since 1999.
- With the concerning rise of monkeypox cases throughout the world, BVNRY stock has soared. Shares are up 34.08 percent in the five business days ending May 24 '-- and that's after correcting a nearly 80-percent leap.
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- Bavarian Nordic's other vaccine solutions include Rabipur (also called RabAvert, a rabies vaccine for human use), Encepur (a tick-borne encephalitis vaccine), and Mvabea (an ebola vaccine licensed to Janssen).
- The U.S. will tap into the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine stockpile.
- The U.S. has about 1,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine currently in its stockpile. These will be reserved for high-risk contacts of early patients, according to Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.
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- McQuiston added, ''We expect that level to ramp up very quickly in the coming weeks as the company provides more doses to us.''
- Do any other companies that make a monkeypox vaccine?
- The U.S. also reportedly has 100 million doses of a smallpox vaccine called ACAM2000. Sanofi Pastuer Biologics Co. creates this vaccine, which is considered of an older generation and carries additional side effects. McQuiston discussed ACAM2000 and said, ''A decision to use that widely would have to have some serious discussion behind it.''
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- Until then, Bavarian Nordic's Jynnea monkeypox vaccine remains the primary solution for the ongoing monkeypox outbreak.
- Investors are also rallying for stocks like GeoVax Labs Inc. (GOVX), Emergent Biosolutions Inc. (EBX), Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INO), and more. These were favorites in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when investors were pushing capital into vaccine researchers. None of them have a monkeypox vaccine, but that could change in the future.
- Over 1,400 acres burned | Fredericksburg Standard
- Over the past two days, fire crews in Gillespie County and out of the county have been working to contain a 1,400-plus acre wildfire that started near Eckert Road.
- Fredericksburg Fire EMS Chief Lynn Bizzell said the call came in around 12:15 p.m. Tuesday.
- ''There have been so many units that have responded,'' Bizzell said. ''We've had all of the volunteer fire departments in the county, as well as some from surrounding counties. And we've also had a lot of state assets from the Texas A&M Forest Service and assets from out of state.''
- A news release from the City of Fredericksburg stated that about 100 personnel from the Texas A&M Forest Service were working the area.
- A STRAC (Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council) team from Bexar County also stepped in for assistance.
- The news release stated that resources also were received from Llano, Kendall, Kerr, Mason and McCollough counties.
- As of 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Bizzell said the fire was about 50% contained.
- ''The wind has been our biggest enemy, but we're trying to get containment lines set up,'' he said.
- Extensive damage has been reported, as several outbuildings and barns have been destroyed, but Bizzell no homes have been considered total losses at this point.
- ''One house did catch on fire, we were able to stop it in the attic, so it wasn't what I would consider to be destroyed,'' he said.
- As far as the cause, Bizzell said it has not been determined at this time. No injuries have been reported as of Wednesday afternoon.
- ''We had one man get overheated and was treated on scene and one was transported to the hospital, but both of them are back to work today,'' he said.
- Peggy Metzger, a resident who lives close to the fire, said it was recommended for everyone in the area to evacuate. She was the last to leave.
- ''At one point, we saw it rising above a hill, and we thought, 'if it jumps that hill, we'll be in trouble,''' she recalled.
- It eventually did jump the hill, but didn't spread as badly as they thought.
- Overnight, she said the barn at her property had been used as a command center for the firefighters, and water from their property had been used to help contain the fire.
- Gordon and Dianne Eckert, who live on Lower Crabapple Road, were very close to having to be evacuated.
- ''I was on the way home from town and, at about 12:30, I could see the fire on top of the hill and thought, 'Oh my gosh, that's not good,''' Gordon said. ''We weren't very concerned at first because of the prevailing southwest wind, we thought it was going to push off to the east of us, but it just got so hot.''
- With the immense amount of cedar in the area, Gordon said the fire was ''growing against the wind.''
- ''A friend of ours came over and said, 'Y'all need to pack up some stuff that you don't want to lose,''' he recalled.
- He and Dianne packed up tubs worth of belongings, but inevitable were able to stay put.
- But even with that bit of good news, it was still a concern.
- ''It got up close to our hay and if we had lost that, we would've been out of business,'' said Dianne. ''That's what we feed to our cattle.''
- They did not lose any hay and, while there were some close calls, no livestock was lost as well.
- ''We thought we lost one calf, because the momma kept coming out and looking for her baby,'' Dianne said.
- The Eckerts wanted to offer their sincere gratitude to the first responders who worked the fire.
- ''If it had not been for them, our home would've been just a stack of ashes,'' Dianne said.
- Other community members have been bringing food, water, Gatorade and other supplies to the firefighters working.
- ''I will tell you that when you're sitting on a brush truck for a long time and you have no resources, seeing that food and water is amazing,'' he said. ''They're our heroes.''
- If people would like to donate supplies, Bizzell suggest they call the Fredericksburg Fire EMS Department at 830-990-2050.
- Due to the severity of the fire, livestock has also been evacuated.
- The Gillespie County Fair Grounds at 530 Fair Drive have been housing evacuated horses. To check horse stall availability, call 830-997-2359.
- The John L. Kuykendall Event Center and Arena, located at 2200 W. Ranch Road 152 in Llano, has also been accepting livestock. For more information, call 325-248-5937.
- Emergency Alert System Vulnerability
- View as a webpage / Share
- We recently became aware of certain vulnerabilities in EAS encoder/decoder devices that, if not updated to most recent software versions, could allow an actor to issue EAS alerts over the host infrastructure (TV, radio, cable network).
- This exploit was successfully demonstrated by Ken Pyle, a security researcher at CYBIR.com, and may be presented as a proof of concept at the upcoming DEFCON 2022 conference in Las Vegas, August 11-14.
- In short, the vulnerability is public knowledge and will be demonstrated to a large audience in the coming weeks.
- FEMA strongly encourages EAS participants to ensure that:EAS devices and supporting systems are up to date with the most recent software versions and security patches;EAS devices are protected by a firewall;EAS devices and supporting systems are monitored and audit logs are regularly reviewed looking for unauthorized access.We value our partnership with broadcasters and appreciate your efforts to maintain public trust and confidence in the Emergency Alert System.
- Contact the IPAWS Office at fema-ipaws-stakeholder-engagement@fema.dhs.gov.
- Disclaimer: This communication is provided by FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System's Program Management Office to highlight program announcements and does not endorse any non-government organizations, entities, or services.
- A fetus counts as a dependent on state tax returns in Georgia : NPR
- The state of Georgia has established that a fetus can be listed as a dependent in state tax returns. Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty hide caption
- toggle caption Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty The state of Georgia has established that a fetus can be listed as a dependent in state tax returns.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty Pregnant Georgians can now list their fetus as a dependent on their tax returns.
- The Georgia Department of Revenue released new guidance this week establishing that the agency "will recognize any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat ... as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption."
- An individual at least six weeks pregnant on or after July 20 through Dec. 31, 2022, can list the fetus as a dependent on their tax returns starting next year, the agency said. Georgian taxpayers can claim an exemption in the amount of $3,000 for each dependent.
- This policy change follows the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion. Following that, an appeals court ruled on July 20 that Georgia's ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy can become law.
- Taxpayers will have to submit relevant medical records or other supporting documentation to the department in order to prove their filing.The "fetal personhood law" is the idea that a fetus is a person with full constitutional rights from the moment of fertilization. Both Georgia and Arizona established this in their abortion laws, but Arizona's statute has been challenge in court.This tax policy change has far wider implications "from taxes and inheritance rights to education to population counts," says Elizabeth Nash, the Guttmacher Institute's principal policy associate for state issues.
- For now, the policy change only applies to state tax returns. This state law has no effect on federal taxes, says Alex Raskolnikov, a professor of tax law at Columbia Law School.
- "A state (e.g., GA) cannot dictate federal law. GA's decision will have no impact of the IRS or the Internal Revenue Code," he says.
- Early critics note that this state policy may create questions for those who miscarry further along in their pregnancy.
- Lauren Groh-Wargo, the campaign manager for Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams, tweeted: "So what happens when you claim your fetus as a dependent and then miscarry later in the pregnancy, you get investigated both for tax fraud and an illegal abortion?"
- Georgia's abortion law does allow exceptions for stillbirths, miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies (which can be deadly).
- Summers are getting so hot in Florida that turtles there are mostly born female - CNN
- (Reuters)Florida's sea turtles are grappling with a unique problem made worse by climate change: recent heat waves have caused the sand on some beaches to get so hot that nearly every turtle born was female.
- "The frightening thing is the last four summers in Florida have been the hottest summers on record," said Bette Zirkelbach, manager of the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, a city in the Florida Keys, which is a string of tropical islands stretching from the southern end of the state.
- "Scientists that are studying sea turtle hatchlings and eggs have found no boy sea turtles, so only female sea turtles for the past four years," Zirkelbach said, whose turtle center has operated since 1986.
- The trend is just one of many signs that the climate crisis is interfering with the Earth's natural ecosystems, advancing too rapidly for many species to adapt.
- When a female turtle digs a nest on a beach, the temperature of the sand determines the sex of the hatchlings. Zirkelbach said an Australian study showed similar statistics '-- "99% of new sea turtle babies are female."
- Instead of determining sex during fertilization, the sex of sea turtles and alligators depends on the temperature of developing eggs, according to the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
- If a turtle's eggs incubate below 81.86 Fahrenheit (27.7 Celsius), the turtle hatchlings will be male, whereas if they incubate above 88.8 F (31C), they will be female, according to NOAA'S National Ocean Service website.
- "Over the years, you're going to see a sharp decline in their population because we just don't have the genetic diversity," said Melissa Rosales Rodriguez, a sea turtle keeper at the recently opened a turtle hospital at the Miami Zoo. "We don't have the male-to-female ratio needed in order to be able to have successful breeding sessions."
- The two turtle hospitals are also battling tumors in turtles known as fibropapillomatosis, also known as FP. These tumors are contagious to other turtles and can cause death if not treated.
- With climate affecting the future of turtles and the disease being so widespread, Zirkelbach sees the need to save every turtle she can and open more rehab centers.
- "The Turtle Hospital was the first. But, sadly and fortunately, there's a need all throughout Florida."
- Clarification: This story has been updated to be clear that the climate crisis is having an effect on the biological sex of the sea turtle hatchlings.
- US Senate ratifies Finland's Nato bid | News | Yle Uutiset
- Following hours of debate, the upper legislative body of the US voted 95 to one to admit Finland and Sweden into the defence alliance.
- The US Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve the accession of Finland and Sweden into Nato. Image: AOPThe US Senate voted to admit Finland and Sweden into Nato in a vote of 95 to one during a session on Wednesday with one senator voting 'present' and three absent from the vote.
- In order for ratification, at least two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 senators had to vote in favour.
- "Welcoming Sweden and Finland into the Nato alliance, will signal the United States' ongoing commitment to peace, stability and democracy in Europe and around the world," said Senator Bob Menendez from New Jersey and Chair of the Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations in his remarks opening the floor debate on Wednesday afternoon.
- His voice was joined by a chorus of senators, the majority of which echoed the importance of bolstering the transatlantic alliance by adding Finland and Sweden into the fold given their strategic, economic and military contributions.
- The major sentiment on the floor of the US Senate was that Finland and Sweden joining Nato was a natural response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the changed security environment in Europe.
- Following hours of debate that included references to the Winter War, the prowess of the Finnish Defence Forces, and Senator Tom Carper regaling the tale of the first Finnish and Swedish settlers coming to New Sweden in what is now his home state of Delaware, the Senate voted resoundingly in favour Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
- It was a rare moment of bipartisanship, as Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly voted in favour of the Nordic countries joining the alliance, with only a few exceptions.
- Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri was the lone dissenting voice on the matter, which came as a surprise given his vote for North Macedonia to join Nato in 2019.
- Siding not with Hawley, but standing neutral was his party compatriot Senator Rand Paul, a historic Nato sceptic who in the end voted 'present', a vote neither for or against Nato expansion.
- While Paul had introduced an amendment to the vote that would have added extra Congressional oversight in the case that Article 5 of the Nato treaty was invoked to lead the US to war, the amendment was shot down.
- However, an amendment by Alaskan Senator Dan Sullivan, another Republican, was adopted that urged all current and future Nato member states to contribute to the alliance by spending at least two percent of their GDP on military spending.
- Sullivan and countless other senators pointed out that while Finland already met and exceeded this requirement, it was directed towards current Nato members in order to strengthen the alliance.
- Other countries ratify too
- The US wasn't the only country to ratify the Nato bids of Finland and Sweden, as Italy and France also put their support behind the Nordic countries this week.
- Italy supported the decision in a vote of 202 to 13 in the Italian Senate, while the French National Assembly voted 209 to 46 in favour of admitting the Nordic countries into the alliance.
- Despite the rhetoric from a rogue Italian governor saying that Italy needed to halt Finland's bid to join Nato over W¤rtsil¤ moving production from the Italian city of Trieste to Finland, the ratification of Finland's accession was overwhelming.
- Now, 23 out of 30 Nato member state legislatures have given Finland and Sweden the green light to join the alliance.
- Seven more remain, with the biggest question mark remaining Turkey. Despite agreeing to support Finland and Sweden at the Madrid summit in June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that it will freeze the Nordic countries' bids if Ankara's promises are not met, according to Reuters. (siirryt toiseen palveluun)
- Why Warner Bros. Really Killed the Batgirl Movie
- The DC superhero film intended for HBO Max won't be released theatrically or on streaming
- Warner Bros. Discovery didn't just shelve ''Batgirl,'' a nearly completed film that cost roughly $90 million; the project is effectively dead and won't go to theaters or to streaming. So what gives? While there's a big strategic play here and interest in protecting the future of the DC brand, the shocking move also has to do with lowering the studio's tax burden and cutting their losses to improve earnings this year.
- A company insider told TheWrap that the studio expects that by not releasing the movie at all, they'll benefit from a tax treatment by writing off the losses of both ''Batgirl'' and another movie originally planned for HBO Max, ''Scoob! Holiday Haunt.'' While these circumstances are rare, it's not uncommon for companies to write off losses in general. And doing so may make the most financial sense as they try and recoup at least some costs from the film.
- And ahead of Warner Bros. Discovery's earnings on Thursday, in which potential big changes are on the horizon for the company and HBO Max, one expert at a production and financing company said that this move is a sign of them working to elevate the DC brand, biting the bullet and doing what they can to distance themselves from the studio's prior regime.
- ''Batgirl'' was developed by the team led by then WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who throughout 2021 remained committed to his ''Project Popcorn'' approach to releasing the studio's entire slate theatrically but also on HBO Max the same day. The move helped boost subscribers for the streaming service but annoyed some talent in the process, even as Kilar and Warner Bros. kept their promise toward 2022's theatrical slate with movies like ''The Batman'' enjoying a 45-day window of theatrical exclusivity, before CEO David Zaslav officially got in the door.
- So why not just release ''Batgirl'' in theaters? Zaslav hasn't been shy about his commitment to theatrical exhibition, telling the crowd at CinemaCon in April that opening a movie in theaters first provides ''a whole stream of monetization'' and that it helps to build a brand and perception that the film ''has a higher quality that benefits the streaming service.'' But a movie developed specifically for streaming doesn't have the same weight or budget as other DC titles, like the upcoming ''Aquaman'' or ''Shazam'' sequels, and ''Batgirl'' was part of the previous regime's attempt to craft smaller-scale DC films for streaming.
- TheWrap learned on Tuesday that the new owners and management are committed to making DC titles big theatrical event films, and ''Batgirl'' isn't that. But insiders added that studio brass loves the film's directors and star and are actively planning to work with them soon.
- ''The decision to not release 'Batgirl' reflects our leadership's strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max. Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future,'' a Warner Bros. Picture spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. A rep for Warner Bros. Discovery didn't respond to a new request for comment on this story.
- In that sense, one agent said that it's understandable why the studio would kill off both ''Batgirl'' and ''Scoob!,'' believing that any kill fees associated with the films would be far less than the tens of millions it would cost the studio to execute a global theatrical rollout of the film and market it, not to mention any reshoots or additional photography for theaters.
- But financials weren't the only factor at play here. For one, insiders at the studio said that a test screening for ''Batgirl'' didn't go well, and the studio determined that ultimately the movie simply didn't work. The notion of putting out a subpar film would run counter to Zaslav's plans to refine an approach to the DC brand.
- '''Quality, not cost cutting,' seems to be the official reason,'' the agent told TheWrap. And the agent further cited a reported directive from Zaslav that HBO Max streaming films should have a budget below $35 million, something that led to DC's ''Wonder Twins'' movie also shutting down early in development back in May.
- It's also true that had ''Batgirl'' simply been released, it would've expedited the studio's ability to write off the film for a tax loss. In essence, releasing ''Batgirl'' as planned on HBO Max would've resulted in a faster tax write off, but also would've resulted in an additional cost for marketing and its quality could've waylaid Zaslav's plans for the DC brand.
- The expert said that had the movie been working really well, the studio likely would've found at least some way to release it. And in that sense, one entertainment lawyer doubted the studio's real motivations by attempting to write it off their taxes.
- ''To not release it is absurd, and by not releasing it at all, there is a significant risk that you can't deduct it at all until you do something with it like transfer it to somebody,'' Sky Moore, a partner with Greenberg and Glusker told TheWrap. ''It is a stretch to believe they can take a deduction.''
- Umberto Gonzalez contributed to this report.
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- House's 'Irregular Warfare' Provision Risks Unintended War - Defense One
- Congress may be sleepwalking the United States into war, potentially with a nuclear state. A provision in the recently passed House version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act would expand the U.S. military's ability to use proxy forces for ''irregular warfare'' operations against Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China. It's not clear how many lawmakers were aware of the provision'--much less considered how the military's use of foreign proxies can escalate into direct military conflict. The Senate should reject this dangerous measure in its consideration of the bill.
- The House-passed bill codifies and increases the budget of the ''1202 authority,'' a provisional authority from 2018 that has allowed the military to secretly recruit, train, and pay foreign forces and private individuals to conduct irregular warfare operations on behalf of the United States. To date, 1202 programs have been non-kinetic in nature: information and intelligence operations targeting so-called ''rogue regimes'' and ''revisionist powers'' in Eastern Europe and East Asia, as the Pentagon sets its sights on great power competition. But nothing prevents the military from using the 1202 authority to send proxy forces into combat.
- The 1202 authority was modeled on 10 U.S.C. § 127e, an earlier authority designed to give the military operational flexibility and greater access in its pursuit of groups like al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In practice, the 127e authority has been used to create and command shadowy proxy forces in at least 16 countries across Africa and Asia, including Niger, Egypt, and Yemen. The military's 127e proxies'--such as the Danab Brigade in Somalia, a force of 1,000 fighters who take orders and salaries from U.S. troops'--are regularly instructed to conduct patrols, raids, and kill-or-capture missions against terrorist targets. At times, U.S. forces join their proxies in the field, themselves engaging in combat and taking casualties.
- Under both 127e and 1202, the use of proxy forces must support ''authorized'' U.S. military operations. The Defense Department has cited two sources of authority for engaging in combat through and with 127e proxies: the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF'--the authority for the United States's endless ''war on terror'''--and the president's constitutional prerogative to engage in ''self-defense,'' defined expansively by executive branch lawyers.
- The Defense Department could cite similar authorities for the use of 1202 proxies. Although no AUMF was designed to counter Iran, North Korea, Russia, or China, the executive branch believes it has the authority to engage these countries militarily. The Trump administration invoked the 2002 AUMF, the authorization for the Iraq War, to justify an airstrike on Qassem Soleimani, a high'ranking Iranian general. The administration reasoned that the 2002 AUMF allows the pursuit of Iran-backed militias in Iraq and associated Iranian officials, even though the Iraq War has been over for more than a decade and did not involve Iran. The Biden administration has not refuted or rescinded this interpretation of the 2002 AUMF. As long as the 2002 AUMF is on the books, no law stops the Defense Department from creating a 1202 proxy force to combat Iran-backed militias and related targets.
- The Defense Department has already crafted arguments for why it can use the military in self-defense against potential Russian threats, as well as yet-undisclosed threats in East Asia. Each of the Defense Department's current 1202 programs, including numerous programs in Eastern Europe and at least one program in the Indo-Pacific region, is justified on the basis of self-defense. Since the Cold War, presidents have maintained that they have the authority to use the military for self-defense without congressional authorization, so long as their operations do not rise to the level of an all-out ''war in the constitutional sense.'' They have defined ''self-defense'' to include not only the defense of the American homeland or U.S. forces abroad, but also the defense of foreign partners and even the defense of abstract ''national interests.'' Between the 1202 authority and this expansive view of presidential power, the Defense Department has all it needs to raise a proxy force to counter, say, Russian separatists in the Donbass.
- The Biden administration has not used the 1202 authority for combat through or with partners; it has limited its use of that authority to information and intelligence operations. But there's no telling what a more belligerent or reckless future administration might do. The legal limitations on the 1202 authority are few.
- Moreover, Congress's oversight of the 1202 authority is virtually nonexistent. The Defense Department's reports to Congress on 1202 activity are so heavily classified that most congressional offices cannot read them. Offices that have seen these reports question their value, suggesting that the reports omit key information. It's far from clear that the House members who voted to codify and expand the 1202 authority through the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act understood the implications of doing so. The public, of course, receives no information on the 1202 proxies that our tax dollars support.
- If the Senate joins the House in codifying and expanding the 1202 authority, Congress will have given the Defense Department an authority that very well could lead to combat and even war. This time, though, the war might not be with al-Shabaab or ISIS. It might be with a nuclear state.
- Katherine Yon Ebright is Counsel in the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. She is the author of a forthcoming report on the Defense Department's security cooperation authorities.
- Ayman al-Zawahiri 'dead' '' Al-Qaeda boss dies from asthma in Afghan mountain hideout, reports claim | The Sun
- AL-QAEDA leader Ayman al-Zawahiri who took over after the death of Osama bin Laden has reportedly died in Afghanistan.
- Al-Zawahiri - sometimes dubbed Dr Death - last appeared in a video message for the group on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the US.
- Ayman al-Zawahiri took up leadership after the death of Osama bin Laden Credit: Getty Images - Getty 6
- Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden Credit: AP:Associated PressArab News reports the terrorist, 68, died of natural causes related to asthma citing four sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- US intelligence officials are reportedly aware of the reports and are attempting to confirm whether or not they are true.
- The Sun Online has contacted the UK Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office.
- An al-Qaeda translator told Arab News: "He died last week in Ghazni. He died of asthma because he had no formal treatment."
- A Pakistani security official added: "We believe he is no longer alive. We are firm that he has died of natural causes."
- Another source close to al-Qaeda said he died earlier this month and a small number of followers attended his funeral in Ghazni.
- "What we know is that he was having some breathing issues and has passed away somewhere in Afghanistan," they said.
- Other security sources were cited as being aware the terrorist was "extremely ill" and another said he was in "unstable health".
- It comes after the death of al-Qaeda's second in command Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Masri.
- He was reportedly shot dead along with his daughter by two hitmen actin on US orders on a motorcycle in Tehran, Iran, in August.
- Ayman al-Zawahiri and his old boss Osama bin Laden Credit: Reuters 6
- Ayman al-Zawahiri has reportedly died of asthma Credit: AFP - GettyIt also follows the death of Hamza bin Laden - Osama's son - in a US counter terrorism operation in 2019.
- All three of their deaths in such quick succession opens up a potential power vacuum at the top of the evil organisation.
- The FBI still lists al-Masri and al-Zawahiri on their most wanted terrorists page, with the bounty on the al-Qaeda boss's head being $25million.
- The terrorist is described as "armed and dangerous".
- He was indicted for his role in the devastating attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 224 people and injured thousands more in 1998.
- In 2005, he praised the 7/7 London bombings, which left 56 dead '-- callingBritain ''one of the severest enemies of Islam''.
- Ayman al-Zawahiri was known as Dr DeathAl- Zawahiri, a former Egyptian eye surgeon, succeeded bin Laden after he was killed by US special forces during a daring raid on his compound in 2011.
- He had been seen as the brains behind the global terrorist network while bin Laden was the charismatic leader.
- The terrorist has remained in hiding for almost 20 years despite a manhunt being launched after the September 11 attacks.
- He last appeared in a 45-minute video message this September to celebrate the World Trade Centre atrocity that killed 2,996 people.
- "Flames of war between the Crusaders and the Muslims have not been extinguished," the terrorist said.
- Al-Zawahiri also raged against the US for tightening ties with Israel.
- And he accused any Muslim nations normalizing relations with Israel of being "dangerous enemies".
- Ayman al-Zawahiri was an eye surgeon before turning to terror Credit: AP:Associated PressAl-Zawahiri was born into a family of wealthy doctors and scholars in Cairo, with his grandfather being the grand imam of al-Azhar, the centre of Sunni Islamic learning in the Middle East.
- Zawahiri excelled at school and enjoyed poetry but is said to have loathed ''violent'' sport.
- He was just 15-years-old when he was first arrested for being in the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
- In 1974, he graduated from Cairo University's medical school, where his father was a professor.
- Four years later he obtained a masters in surgery and wed a philosophy student before being a practicing doctor.
- He joined Egyptian Islamic Jihad. In 1981 he was among hundreds of militants rounded up after president Anwar Sadat was shot dead for signing a peace deal with Israel.
- He was convicted of possessing firearms and beaten during his three-year sentence.
- On his release he left for Saudi Arabia, where he met Bin Laden. He became his right-hand man when he founded al-Qaeda in 1988.
- Al-Qaeda names new leader
- Biden in the Situation Room on July 1 planning CIA drone strike that killed al-Zawahiri | Daily Mail Online
- The White House on Tuesday released a photo of President Joe Biden meeting with his national security team on July 1, where they outlined the operation to take out al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
- In the photo, Biden is seen interacting with CIA Director William Burns, who is sitting to the president's right and wearing a face mask. The meeting took place in the Situation Room at the White House.
- During the briefing, Biden questioned his team about the proposed operation and examined a model that was constructed of the safe house in Kabul where al-Zawahiri was hiding.
- The White House tweeted the picture with the caption: 'On July 1, President Biden meets with his national security team to discuss the counterterrorism operation to take out Ayman al-Zawahiri. At this meeting, the President was briefed on the proposed operation and shown a model of the safe house where Al-Zawahiri was hiding.'
- Attending the meeting along with Burns were Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.
- President Joe Biden in the Situation Room at the White House meeting with his national security team on July 1, where they outlined the operation to take out al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
- Attending the meeting with President Biden were CIA Director William Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain
- In comparison, above is the model of Osama bin Laden's compound that U.S. intelligence used to plan the 2011 that resulted in his death
- A senior administration official said that during the meeting President Biden 'asked detailed questions about what we knew and how we knew it.'
- 'He was particularly focused on ensuring that every step had been taken to ensure the operation would minimize' the risk to civilian casualties, the official noted.
- 'And he wanted to understand the basis upon which we had confidence in our assessments,' the official said.
- He also asked his team to consider the risks to Mark Randall Frerichs, an American who disappeared in Afghanistan in 2020.
- More meetings would take place throughout the month and, on July 25th, Biden authorized the operation.
- It took place on July 30th.
- It was 6.18am on Sunday and the sun was still rising over the Afghan capital of Kabul when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone - circling up to 50,000ft overhead - fired two R9X 'Ninja' Hellfire missiles at a house in the city's upmarket district of Sherpur.
- Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's former deputy and leader of the Al Qaeda terror group since his master's death 11 years before, had just completed his morning prayer - the second of the day - and was watching the dawn from his rooftop balcony in keeping with a well-worn routine.
- Moments later, the 71-year-old was no more - pulverised into oblivion by the R9X's 100lbs reinforced-metal warhead and six katana-like blades that would have silently popped out of the fuselage moments before impact.
- Timeline of the hunt for Ayman al-Zawahiri this year - Early April: Top security staffers are informed of 'developing intelligence'. Shortly thereafter, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan briefs President Biden US officials develop 'pattern of life' for Al-Zawahiri. Al-Zawahiri arrives at the safe house location
- - May and June - Biden receives updates
- - July 1 - Biden is briefed on a proposed operation in the White House Situation Room by members of his cabinet
- - June and July - Principals and deputies convene in Situation Room multiple times to 'test the intelligence picture'. They conclude al-Zawahiri is a lawful target.
- - July 25 - Biden convenes advisors and key cabinet for final meeting on updated intel. Asks again about other options. Biden 'authorized a precise tailored airstrikes on the condition that have strike minimize, to the greatest extent possible the risk of civilian casualties.'
- - July 30, 9:48 pm EDT - US undertakes 'precision counterterrorism operation in Kabul' to take him out
- It marked the end of at least 21 years of hunting by US intelligence and the military - seeking justice for the almost-3,000 victims of the 9/11 terror attack which Zawahiri had masterminded, and hundreds more killed in bombings on American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the USS Cole years before.
- Zawahiri's death means that all of the plotters of 9/11 have now been captured or killed.
- 'No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out,' President Biden said yesterday.
- The strike was the culmination of six months of intensive intelligence work by the CIA which had tracked Zawahiri to the safe house, detailed his daily routine, and picked the ideal moment to hit him.
- US officials said the operation dates back to April, when they received intelligence that Zawahiri's wife, their daughter, and her children had moved into a safe house in Kabul, in the old diplomatic quarter that used to house Western officials and embassies.
- The family was being kept under the protection of the Haqqani network, a notorious terror organisation run by two brothers and their uncle who are closely associated with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban - which returned to rule in Afghanistan last August after America's shambolic withdrawal.
- Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of the group's founder Jalaluddin, is the current Interior Minister for the Taliban government and leader of the network. One of his aides is thought to own the house where Zawahiri's family moved.
- Over the course of three months the US carried out painstaking work to confirm that Zawahiri was also living there, which culminated with multiple sightings of him spending 'sustained periods' on the balcony.
- Spies constructed a scale-model replica of the home and, through 'multiple intelligence sources', built up a detailed picture of Zawahiri's daily routine - trying to pick the ideal moment to strike him.
- President Biden was kept briefed as the intelligence built up throughout May and June.
- He closely scrutinised the plans - which called for a precision strike on the balcony - and was keen that every possible precaution was taken to ensure nobody other than Zawahiri would be killed.
- Ayman al-Zawahiri, mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks and leader of Al Qaeda following Osama Bin Laden's death, was killed early Sunday in a drone attack on his safe house in the Afghan capital Kabul
- An MQ-9 Reaper drone fired two R9X 'ninja' Hellfire missiles at Zawahiri as he stood alone on his balcony watching the sun come up, obliterating him with 100lbs metal warheads and six blades that popped out of the fuselage before impact
- An image of the safe house after the attack shows how the missiles appear to have smashed through the floor of the rooftop balcony and damaged two of the windows in the room below - but did not harm anyone other than the terror leader
- The strike was carried out early Sunday at an Afghanistan safe house the elderly terrorist had be holed up in, at 6:18 am local time and 9:48 pm Saturday in the US.
- Smoke rises over Kabul in the wake of an early-morning US drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda leader
- Labeled by US officials as Osama bin Laden's number-two, al-Zawahiri, 71, was a key plotter of the September 11 terrorist attacks and took over as the leader of the notorious terror group following bin Laden's death in 2011
- Watching al-Qaida chief's 'pattern of life' was key to his death U.S. officials had built a scale model of the safe house where Ayman al-Zawahiri had been located and constructed 'a pattern of life' prior to the drone strike that ended his life.
- Intelligence experts knew al-Zawahiri was partial to sitting on the home's balcony and were confident he was on the balcony when the missiles flew Sunday.
- His family, supported by the Haqqani Taliban network, had taken up residence in the Kabul home after the Taliban regained control of the country last year.
- But the lead on his whereabouts was only the first step, as confirming al-Zawahiri's identity, devising a strike in a crowded city that wouldn't recklessly endanger civilians, and ensuring the operation wouldn't set back other U.S. priorities took months to fall into place.
- That effort involved independent teams of analysts reaching similar conclusions about the probability of al-Zawahiri's presence, the scale mock-up and engineering studies of the building to evaluate the risk to people nearby, and the unanimous recommendation of Biden's advisers to go ahead with the strike.
- A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the strike planning, said al-Zawahiri was identified on 'multiple occasions, for sustained periods of time' on the balcony where he died.
- The official said 'multiple streams of intelligence' convinced U.S. analysts of his presence, having eliminated 'all reasonable options' other than his being there.
- Two senior national security officials were first briefed on the intelligence in early April, with the president being briefed by national security adviser Jake Sullivan shortly thereafter.
- Through May and June, a small circle of officials across the government worked to vet the intelligence and devise options for Biden.
- Five days later, at 9.48pm on July 30 Washington time - early morning the following day in Kabul - the strike was carried out with lethal precision.
- Photos of Zawahiri's safe-house after the attack appear to show how the Hellfire missiles smashed through the floor of the balcony and into the room below, breaking one window and blowing out another.
- Despite Zawahiri's family being at home at the time - intelligence suggests the never left the building in all the months they lived there - the US says nobody other than the terrorist leader was killed.
- Members of the Haqqani network are said to have swarmed the home shortly afterwards, moving Zawahiri's surviving relatives to a new location.
- Though Pentagon chiefs were 'confident' Zawahiri was on the balcony at the time of their attack, they worked over the course of the next day to be sure he was dead before giving confirmation to the President.
- Biden then made an address to the nation Monday night announcing Zawahiri's death, telling Americans: 'Justice has been delivered. And this terrorist leader is no more.'
- Zawahiri 'carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats, and American interests,' Biden said, adding that he hoped the death would 'bring one more measure of closure' to those who lost family or loved ones on 9/11.
- Biden laid out al-Zawahiri's role in the terrorist organization, noting that, in addition to the 9/11 attacks, he was behind the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000 and the attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
- It was the United State's most significant strike against al Qaeda since the killing of bin Laden in 2011. Al-Zawahiri replace bin Laden as the terrorist group's top leader.
- Al-Zawahiri was on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list and there was a $25 million reward for information leading directly to him.
- An Egyptian born to a comfortable family in Cairo in 1951, al-Zawahiri first came on authorities' radars in the 90s, shortly after the formation of the terror group in 1988 by Bin Laden - at which time al-Zawahiri was already a member.
- The two terrorists reportedly met sometime in late 1980s, when al-Zawahiri reportedly kept the Saudi millionaire safe in the caves of Afghanistan from Soviet bombardments that then had been common in the region.
- In 1998, he was named Bin Laden's deputy, further raising his profile, as he began to appear alongside the Saudi national at al-Qaeda held news conferences, airing anti-American sentiment and calling for other likeminded Muslims to join their cause.
- That same year, al-Zawahiri, then 47, was indicted for his alleged role in the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
- The August 7 attack saw nearly simultaneous bombs blow up in front of the embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, killing 224 - including 12 Americans - and wounding more than 4,500.
- The United States killed al Qaeda boss Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike Sunday, following a more than 20-year effort to assassinate the terrorist
- Al-Zawahiri was Bin Laden's No 2 in Al-Qaeda, the radical jihadist network once led by the Saudi millionaire. The two are seen above in this September 2006 file photo
- The terrorist leader was killed by two Hellfire missiles - fitted with extending blades - fired from CIA drones in a mission that took six months to plan. U.S. officials didn't confirm the model, but it is believed they used the R9X 'Ninja' missile that don't have explosives and limit collateral damage
- Smoke rises from the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in this frame grabe from TV, after a suspected car bomb exploded outside in 1998; al-Zawahiri was indicted for his alleged role in the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya
- Armed US Marines stand guard by the US embassy entrance in Nairobi in 1998 as FBI agents gather evidence in the bombing
- Fanatical ideologue whose new brand of terror prized massacring innocents: Ayman al-Zawahiri inspired Bin Laden to attack the USAl Quaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri in a recorded message
- Osama bin Laden's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has been killed by a CIA drone strike, led a new brand of terror that prized massacring innocents, having inspired the former leader to gather nuclear and biological weapons.
- Al-Zawahiri, who took over Al-Qaeda after Bin Laden's death in 2011, was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan following the US strike.
- The terrorist leader is said to have guided al-Qaeda to become one of the biggest radical movements, having been identified as a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people. At 15, the Egyptian spearheaded his own militant group, Jamaat al-Jihad, that championed large-scale attacks and the murder of civilians.
- As it grew, he later merged it with al-Qaeda in the 1990s, bringing this focus on indiscriminate killing to the terrorist group. The 71-year-old was on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, having declared the US 'the far enemy', with a $25 million reward for information leading directly to him. The surgeon, also called The Doctor, led a terrorist lab developing biological weapons and was the force behind al-Qaeda's ambition to gain nuclear weapons.
- 'To kill Americans and their allies '-- civilian and military '-- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in every country in which it is possible to do it, al-Zawahiri wrote in a 1998 manifesto. Three years later, he helped to plan the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As part of this, al-Zawahiri was planned follow-on attacks across the US, and started a biological weapons program in Afghanistan. He sent group disciples out to find lethal strains of anthrax and scientists that would engage with his plans.
- However the Egyptian abandoned the biological weapons laboratory after a US-backed military effort forced Taliban allies of al-Qaeda out of power in Afghanistan. His own militant group began when he was 15, having organized an underground cell of friends to overthrow Egypt's Islamic theocracy and government, after it executed Qutb in 1966.
- This cell grew to become the Jihad Group, which plotted the assassination of Egyptian leaders in the early 1980s, and was also involved in the killing of the country's president, Anwar Sadat on October 6, 1981, the Washington Post reported. 'We have sacrificed and we are still ready for more sacrifices until the victory of Islam,' he shouted in the courtroom.
- He was briefly jailed for three years for the possession of arms, having been acquitted of the main charges. Later, he claimed to have been tortured while behind bars. After his release, he began touring South Asia and became the personal doctor to Bin Laden. In 1997, while living in Afghanistan, al-Zawahiri was involved in planning an attack on Egyptian tourists visiting the Luxor ruins.
- At the time, al-Zawahiri - who was radicalized after he and hundreds of militants were tortured in Egyptian prison after Islamic fundamentalists' assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981 - had bolstered the terror group by merging it with his own group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which he had started in the 80s.
- He would then help hone the group secretly in his home nation, all while evading Egyptian intelligence, until it achieved cells of followers all across the globe.
- After years of quietly assembling suicide attackers, funds and plans, al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden and several others would carry out the infamous September 11 attacks, putting him and other conspirators at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted List.
- Going into hiding, al-Zawahiri would then work to ensure that al-Qaeda members survived the global manhunt that would ensue - all while rebuilding the group's shattered leadership in the Afghan-Pakistan border region, and serving as the supreme leader over branches in Iraq, Asia, Yemen,
- In the years that followed, al-Zawahiri and Bin Laden would take credit for a series of attacks across Europe and Africa, as U.S. forces successfully rounded up several accused of masterminding the 9/11 plot .
- Despite efforts that included a combination of unrelenting raids and missile and drone strikes, both al-Zawahiri bin Laden would successfully manage to evade U.S. forces, and hide elsewhere in the Middle East.
- It would take roughly a decade before U.S. armed forces were able to track down at least one of the terror group's elusive top members, with a group of U.S. Navy seals successfully taking out bin Laden, then 54, at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
- It was at this point that al-Zawahiri assumed leadership of the group, taking over immediately after the death of his friend.
- U.S. intelligence would then learn over the course of several months from sources with 'increased confidence' that the terror leader's family had relocated to an unspecified safe house in the Middle East.
- The next clue to the al-Qaueda kingpin's whereabouts would not come for another decade, after rumors swirled in 2020 that he had died from illness.
- Those rumors were put to bed, however, the very next year, on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, when al-Zawahiri appeared in a video where he celebrated the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan 20 years after the invasion.
- In that video, he proclaimed 'Jerusalem will never be Judaized' and praised al-Qaeda attacks '' including one that targeted Russian troops in Syria in January 2021.
- The sudden spot seemingly did not provide U.S. officials any clues as to where al-Zawahiri was hiding - however, seven months later, top U.S. security staffers were reportedly informed of 'developing intelligence' that he and his family were back in Afghanistan.
- The breakthrough came in April, after U.S. officials learned that the terror leader's wife, daughter and children had relocated to Kabul, at an al-Qaeda safehouse - the one struck over the weekend.
- Officials eventually determined that al-Zawahiri, too, was at the house - setting into motion a plan that would see officials construct a scale model of the multifloored, terraced property.
- That model would eventually be brought it into the White House Situation Room to President Joe Biden, who along with several senior security officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, would plot the attack, knowing that al-Zawahiri was partial to sitting on the home's balcony.
- The group then paintakingly constructed 'a pattern of life' for the terror leader, and said Monday that they had been confident he was on the balcony when the missiles flew.
- Al-Zawahiri, 71, was in a safehouse in Sherpur, a wealthy area of downtown Kabul that's home to multiple Taliban officials, when he was taken out in the drone strike
- Afghanistan's Taliban government confirmed the airstrike, but did not mention al-Zawahiri, pictured here in 2006, or any other casualties
- Blinken hits back at the Taliban for 'grossly' violating the Doha deal by sheltering al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri after group slammed US for Kabul drone strikeThe US Secretary of State slammed the Taliban for 'grossly' violating the Doha agreement by housing the leader of Al Qaeda, after the group denounced the US for killing the terrorist in a drone strike. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said their government 'strongly condemns this attack on whatever the pretext' and claimed it violated the Doha peace treaty.
- However, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken argued the Taliban failed to 'abide by their commitment' to prevent Al Qaeda from operating in areas under its control - as outlined in the Donald Trump-era agreement. The deal was signed in February 2020 and secured the withdrawal of all NATO troops from Afghanistan on the condition the Taliban would not allow the territory to be used as a launchpad for Al Qaeda or Islamic State attacks against the US.
- UN security intelligence experts revealed in June that Al Qaeda was enjoying a 'safe haven' in Afghanistan under the Taliban and warned the country could become a base for international terrorist attacks once again. Joe Biden, addressing Zawahri's death Monday night, said he hopes it brings 'one more measure of closure' to families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
- US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken argued the Taliban failed to 'abide by their commitment' to prevent Al Qaeda
- 'In the face of the Taliban's unwillingness or inability to abide by their commitments, we will continue to support the Afghan people with robust humanitarian assistance and to advocate for the protection of their human rights, especially of women and girls,' Blinken said in a statement Monday. He also applauded al-Zawahiri's killing and the US military's 'commitment to act against terrorist threats.'
- 'We have delivered on our commitment to act against terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan. The world is safer following the death of al Qa'ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri,' he said before pledging: 'The US will continue to act against those who threaten our country, our people, or our allies.'
- Inside the administration, only a small group of officials at key agencies, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, were allowed into the highly classified planning process.
- During this time, as the U.S. investigated the 'construction and nature of of the safe house' and building integrity so the strike could kill the target without putting civilians in danger, al-Zawahiri would continue to crank out videos attacking the U.S. and its allies
- Shortly after, U.S. officials 'systematically eliminated all reasonable options' other than a strike, after confirming the identities of all the people inside.
- 'Key' agencies, officials said, were then brought into the process to make sure that intel was 'rock solid' before eventually carrying out the top-secret operation.
- During the last few weeks of this period, Biden convened several meetings with advisors and cabinet members to scrutinize the intelligence and analyze various updates as to the situation at hand.
- On July 1, Biden was briefed in the Situation Room about the operation, and closely examined the model of the home al-Zawahiri was hiding out in.
- He gave his final approval for the operation on Thursday.
- Just as U.S. officials had planned, the jihadist had been standing on the balcony of his hideout when the early-morning strike was carried out.
- 'He will never again, never again, allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we're going to make sure that nothing else happen,' Biden declared during his Monday evening address. 'This terrorist leader is no more.'
- Afghanistan's Taliban government denounced the U.S. for killing al-Zawahiri in the drone strike, saying it 'strongly condemns this attack and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement,' the 2020 U.S. pact with the Taliban that led to the withdrawal of American forces.
- 'Such actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan, and the region,' the statement said.
- However, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken hit back, arguing the Taliban failed to 'abide by their commitment' to prevent Al Qaeda from operating in areas under its control - as outlined in the Trump-era deal.
- 'In the face of the Taliban's unwillingness or inability to abide by their commitments, we will continue to support the Afghan people with robust humanitarian assistance and to advocate for the protection of their human rights, especially of women and girls,' Blinken said in a statement Monday.
- He also applauded al-Zawahiri's killing and the U.S. military's 'commitment to act against terrorist threats.'
- 'We have delivered on our commitment to act against terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan.
- 'The world is safer following the death of al Qa'ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri,' he said before pledging: 'The US will continue to act against those who threaten our country, our people, or our allies.'
- On July 1, President Joe Biden - pictured announcing the strike's success Monday - was briefed in the Situation Room about the operation, and closely examined the model of the home al-Zawahiri was hiding out in. He gave his final approval for the operation four days ago
- Al-Zawahiri's FBI wanted poster - there was a $25 million reward for information on him
- Republicans slam Biden's 'victory lap' after killing al Qaeda chiefRepublicans are slamming Biden for applauding the killing of Al Qaeda's top leader. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blamed Biden's botched exit from the Taliban-ruled country on the 'possible re-emergence of Al Qaeda'.
- GOP Sen. Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed McCarthy's sentiment saying that even Americans will be glad Zawahiri is dead, 'Joe's victory lap is ridiculous.'
- Biden's critics allege the drone strike demonstrates the president's failure to combat terrorism and his blatant lies to the American people, citing previous statements he made claiming Al Qaeda was not present in Afghanistan. 'Today is further proof that our United States Military and Intelligence Community personnel will not stop pursuing those who threaten the United States of America and our interests,' McCarthy said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
- 'This news also sheds light on the possible re-emergence of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan following President Biden's disastrous withdrawal a year ago,' he added.
- In June, UN security intelligence experts revealed that al-Qaeda was enjoying a 'safe haven' in Afghanistan under the Taliban and warned the country could become a base for international terrorist attacks once again.
- Following the drone strike location reveal, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said: 'This news sheds light on the possible re-emergence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan following President Biden's disastrous withdrawal a year ago.
- 'The Biden administration must provide Congress with a classified briefing as soon as possible to discuss the resurgence of al-Qaeda in the region over the past year, the current foreign terrorist threat to America, and the steps we must take to keep our country safe and prevent terrorists from entering the United States.
- Bill Roggio, military commentator and managing editor of The Long War Journal, warned DailyMail.com ahead of the address that Biden would tout Zawahiri's death as a victory.
- 'The message tonight is going to be that this was a huge counter-terrorism success.
- 'But really this means that al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan and never left.' Roggio said.
- He also cautioned there is more concern the Taliban is again harboring al-Qaeda.
- 'The big lie the Biden Administration told us to get out of Afghanistan was that al-Qaeda was gone,' Roggio explained. 'It is likely the US got Zawahiri because was over confident and operating in Kabul.
- 'He wasn't hiding out in the mountains. We're hearing that he was being sheltered by a top Taliban deputy.
- 'The Biden Administration is going to tout this as some victory of their 'over-the-horizon' capabilities, but that's the spin.'
- The six-blade 'ninja missile' used to mince terrorists: CIA deployed two R9X Hellfires to shred al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri - a month after it was used to wipe out ISIS thug in Syria
- Al Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri became the latest victim of the feared Hellfire Ninja R9X missile that uses pop-out swords rather than an explosive to take down high profile targets, according to military experts.
- Al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone strike in the Shirpur neighborhood of the Afghani capital of Kabul on Saturday, according to President Joe Biden. The terrorist leader was 71 years old.
- A senior Biden administration official told reporters on August 1 that a drone fired two Hellfire R9X missiles at the terrorist leader as he walked on to the balcony of his safe house.
- The R9X carries 45kg of reinforced metal in its tip with six extendable blades designed to shred the target upon impact without triggering a blast that could prove deadly to those nearby.
- The existence of the missile has not been confirmed by the US military. The official described the al-Zawahiri assassination as a 'precise tailored airstrike.'
- The possibly closest look that has been given to a used R9X in Yemen in June 2022. The red ball is the pneumatic accumulator that helps to propel the missile
- Other targets shed to pieces by Hellfire RX9 missiles: List includes al Qaeda targets, an Iranian general and a mysterious terror financerThe Hellfire RX9 missile is a highly secretive collaboration between the CIA and the DOD that has its origins during the Obama administration in 2011.
- The purpose of the project was to limit the amount of collateral damage and civilian casualties caused during conventional drone strikes.
- The R9X carries 45kg of reinforced metal in its tip with six extendable blades designed to shred the target upon impact without triggering a blast that could prove deadly to those nearby.
- Here are some of the known victims of one of the CIA's most sophisticated pieces of weaponry:
- Abu Khayr al-Masri - February 2017
- Then al-Qaeda's second in command, Abu Al-Khayr al-Masri is thought to have been the first person killed by the RX9 missile.
- Al-Masri was killed alongside another militant in Idlib, Syria, on February 26, 2017. According to GlobalSecurity.org, locals at the scene, while suspecting a drone strike, were shocked that there was 'no real sign of a large explosion' and that the terrorist leader's Kia sedan remained largely in tact.
- Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi - January 2019
- This photo provided by the FBI shows Jamal al-Badawi. He was the mastermind behind the the Oct. 12, 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors
- On New Year's Day 2019, Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi, a prime suspect in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, was killed by an R9X missile in Ma'rib Governorate, Yemen.
- He was driving alone when he was killed and there were no other reported casualties.
- The bombing of the USS Cole killed 17 American sailors. He was the first high-profile terrorist target that US forces killed in Yemen.
- Then President Donald Trump tweeted at the time: 'We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al-Badawi. Our work against al Qaeda continues. We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!'
- Mohibullah - January 2020
- In January 2019, the Afghani government confirmed that a mysterious financier of terrorism, known only as Mohibullah, was killed in a targeted strike in the northeastern part of Afghanistan.
- He was driving in a car when killed. Mohibullah was a Pakistani citizen.
- General Qassem Soleimani - Janaury 2020
- A demonstrator holds the picture of Qassem Soleimani during a protest against the assassination of the Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani
- The R9X missile is also suspected of having been used in the air strike which killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in January, catapulting Washington and Tehran to the brink of war, although this was never confirmed.
- A report from The Hill at the time of Soleimani's death found that the height from which the general was struck had the characteristics of the RX9 missile.
- Abu al Qassam al Urduni and Bilal al Sanaani - June 2020
- Hurras Al-Din leaders Abu al Qassam al Urduni and Bilal al Sananni were killed in Syria's Idlib province in June 2020.
- Like al-Masri, the pair were traveling in a car when they were hit by a drone strike. Similarly, local reported no explosion and their vehicle remained largely intact.
- Al Urduni was a close ally of key US target, al Qaeda organizer Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in bombing in 2006.
- Abu Yahya al-Uzbeki - August 2020
- Military trainer for al-Qaeda Abu Yahya al-Uzbeki was killed by what one news source referred to as a '100-pound flying switchblade' in August 2020.
- Al-Uzbeki had also been work in with Hurras Al-Din at the time of his death.
- Abu Hamzah al-Yemini - June 2022
- Abu Hamzah al-Yemini, the leader of Hurras al Din, was killed in northwestern Syria on June 29 this year. '
- Abu Hamzah al-Yemeni was travelling alone on a motorcycle at the time of the strike,' US Central Command said in a statement, adding that an 'initial review indicates no civilian casualties.'
- Multiple experts said that the scene of al-Yemini's death showed the hallmarks of the RX9 missile.
- Osama Bin-Laden's former number two was staying in the home with members of his family.
- It was the US's most significant strike against al Qaeda since the killing of bin Laden in 2011. In fact, the RX9 was considered when plans were being drawn up to permanently take down the 9/11 mastermind.
- The R9X Hellfire missile has become one of the US military's favored weapons for precision assassinations as it carries a lower risk of collateral damage.
- Developed during Obama's presidency in 2011 amid concerns over the number of civilians being killed in drone strike campaigns in the Middle East, the 'ninja' missile is so nicknamed because it foregoes the use of an explosive warhead.
- It the result of a combined effort by the CIA and the Department of Defense.
- The missile is made Lockheed Martin and Northrop Gumman. It is not clear how many R9X missiles that the Pentagon have in their possession.
- The R9X is not mentioned in the 2022 budget requests for missile procurement.
- The secretive military Joint Special Operations Command has confirmed the use of the R9X twice, in 2019 and 2020, reports the New York Times. But it has reportedly been used on nearly a dozen other occasions to take out specific targets.
- During the Korean and Vietnam wars in the 1950s, the US military pioneered an idea of non-explosive kinetic bombs named Lazy Dogs.
- The bombs were designed to kill using kinetic energy after being dropped from aircraft. The weighed between 560 and 625 pounds. Lazy Dogs did not prove to be popular among commanders and their development was halted in the 1960s.
- The existence of the R9X was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in 2019. The newspaper said that the missile was used in attacks on persons in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia.
- The Journal said that those worked with the R9X is referred to as the 'flying Ginsu,' a reference to a popular brand of steak knives.
- An unnamed official source told the newspaper at the time that the missile was created with the 'express purpose of reducing civilian casualties.'
- The article referred to the weapon as being similar to a 'speedy anvil.'
- The example that the Journal provides suggests that the R9X was so precise that if a target was in a car with an innocent driver, the missile would take out the target and spare the driver.
- The same report said that the missile's blades can cut through buildings, and car roofs.
- At the time of the WSJ report, Human Rights Watch's Letta Tayler wrote on the group's website that the RX9 should not necessarily be viewed as a more ethical weapon.
- Tayler said: 'On its own, the R9X won't resolve the host of legal issues surrounding the US targeted killing program, which since 2002 has killed thousands of people with scant transparency.'
- In August 2021, the R9X was thought to have been used to kill two ISIS militants in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. According to Task and Purpose, the missiles were fired from a MQ-9 Reaper drone.
- Following that strike, Army Major General William 'Hank' Taylor bragged about the lack of civilian casualties adding: 'Without specifying any future plans, I will say that we will continue to have the ability to defend ourselves and to leverage over-the-horizon capability to conduct counterterrorism operations as needed.'
- That strike was in response to the Hamid Karzai International Airport attack that killed 13 US servicemembers.
- In addition to the August 2021 attack, the R9X is thought to have been used in the killing of al Qaeda second-in-command Ahmad Hasan Abu Khayr al-Masri in February 2017.
- It was used again to take out Taliban leader Mohabullah in Afghanistan in January 2019, that same month the missile was used on USS Cole bombing suspect Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali al-Badawi in Yemen and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Ahmed al-Jaziri in June 2019
- The following year, the missile was the cause of death of Hurras Al-Din leaders Qassam al-Urduni and Bilal al-Sanaani in Syria.
- The latter featured the use of three 100-plus-pound warheads, according to the Military Times.
- Al-Zawahiri joins a list of undesirables that includes, Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin, who was killed in 2004 by the Israeli Air Force, who have been taken out by variations of the traditional Hellfire missile.
- While in use by the US military, conventional Hellfire missiles have taken out Anwar al-Awlaki, an Al Qaeda organizer as well as high-ranking Al Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was killed in Pakistan in 2012, Al-Shabaab leader Moktar Ali Zubeyr, who met his end in 2014 in Somalia, not to mention Mohammed Emwazi aka Jihadi John who was killed in 2015 in Syria.
- The explosive warhead on a traditional hellfire missile weighs around 20 pounds.
- The last high-profile use of the Hellfire Ninja was when Abu Hamzah al-Yemeni - the leader of the Hurras al Din - was compromised in the city of Idlib in Syria in June 2022.
- Images from that scene showed the twisted remains of a motorcycle strewn across the ground, suggesting the missile scored a direct hit on its target.
- Hurras al Din is a relatively small but powerful armed group led by Al Qaeda loyalists, which was led by Yemeni until his death yesterday.
- It's estimated to have 2,000 to 2,500 fighters in rebel-held Syria, according to the United Nations.
- The R9X missile is also suspected of having been used in the air strike which killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in January, catapulting Washington and Tehran to the brink of war, although this was never confirmed.
- In his remarks following al-Zawahiri's killing, Biden repeatedly invoked the September 11th terrorist attacks and said the killing of al-Zawahiri demonstrated the resolve of the United States to go after terrorist leaders, no matter where they hide and how long it takes.
- 'Now, justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more,' he said. 'We made it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.'
- Is this Al-Qaeda's next terror chief? Secretive heir apparent who 'oversaw Black Hawk Down operation' and helped carry out 9/11 attacks is poised to take over after Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in Afghanistan
- The heir apparent to the al-Qaeda throne after tonight's confirmed death of Ayman al-Zawahiri is a canny, military-trained operative with experience killing British and American soldiers.
- Egyptian ex-army officer Saif al-Adel was a founding member of al-Qaeda, having joined pre-cursor terrorist group Maktab al-Khidamat in the late-1980s.
- There he met future allies Osama bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, whose separate group Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) he would soon join.
- Little else is known about Saif al-Adel, who at around 60 years of age is one of the younger al-Qaeda bosses.
- Al-Adel was around 30 when he oversaw the infamous 'Black Hawk Down' operation in Mogadishu, Somalia, in which 19 American soldiers were killed and had their bodies dragged through the streets.
- Seven more were slain when two helicopters were shot down in the east Africa ambush, including two British soldiers, three Turks and a Frenchman.
- And since the assassination of Osama bin Laden in 2011, al-Adel has become an increasingly important strategist within the depleting terror cell.
- The only thing standing in his way to become the next al-Qaeda leader is that he is likely stuck in Iran - and may well have been for the past 19 years.
- Al-Adel is pictured (centre) on an al-Qaeda who's who published in 2005. Osama bin Laden is pictured top-left, with al-Zawahiri to his right and Mullah Omar to the right of al-Zawahiri. Saif is now one of the only original al-Qaeda leaders still alive
- The FBI Most Wanted poster on Al-Adel states the reward of up to $10million for information
- In 2003, Iranian Ambassador to the UN Javad Zarif refused to confirm nor deny whether al-Adel was being held in the country.
- Al-Adel has risen to the top of al-Qaeda as much because of his own talents as by the United States' ruthlessness in killing his superiors
- He told ABC News that terrorists tend to have multiple passports, with the Iranian government unable to confirm their identities.
- With what's left of al-Qaeda now based in Afghanistan - and in coexistence with the Taliban - al-Adel's geographic isolation could stop him taking the helm, foreign policy analyst Charles Lister suggested tonight.
- Yet Foundation for the Defense of Democracies senior fellow Bill Roggio remained bullish about al-Adel's chances of succeeding the role, telling Task and Purpose he remains the 'likely' candidate.
- With his real name thought to be Mohammed Salah al-Din Zaidan, al-Adel's made-up moniker translates to 'Sword of Justice'.
- Thought not as brainwashed by Islamist ideology as his al-Qaeda colleagues, al-Adel used his military training to rise to the top of the shadowy organisation in the wake of the September 11 attacks, in which senior operatives killed themselves.
- Al-Adel was in fact against the so-called 'Planes Operation', as it was known by members of the terror cell.
- But he helped organise the single most deadly terrorist attack in history after bin Laden became committed to the idea.
- According to ex-FBI agent and counter-terrorism expert Ali Soufan, who suggested al-Adel would be 'al-Qaeda's next leader' last year, Saif possesses a 'poker face' and a 'caustic tongue'.
- President Biden confirmed tonight in an address from the White House that an American drone strike killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan
- When training young soldiers, he was known to kidnap them in the middle of the night and conduct savage beatings in order to harden the troops.
- Al-Adel has risen to the top of al-Qaeda as much because of his own talents as by the United States' ruthlessness in killing his superiors.
- Osama's assumed successor son Hamza was killed in 2019 and fellow senior strategist Abu Muhammad al-Masri was assassinated in 2020.
- US intelligence states: 'Al-Adel is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.'
- Two hundred and twenty-four people died in the three East Africa blasts, including 12 Americans, with more than 4,500 people wounded.
- A $10million reward for information has been placed on al-Adel's head.
- And with ex-leader al-Zawahiri now slain, the attention of America's terrorist hunters will likely go onto Saif al-Adel.
- Al-Zawahiri, who took over Al-Qaeda after Bin Laden's death in 2011, was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan following a US airstrike this evening.
- The terrorist leader is said to have guided Al-Qaeda to become one of the biggest radical movements, having been identified as a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.
- Saif al-Adel's rival, Osama Bin Laden's son Hamza, was killed by American forces in 2019
- Hamza bin Laden (left as a child) is the son of deceased former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (right) who is believed to have groomed him to take over the terror group
- At 15, the Egyptian spearheaded his own militant group, Jamaat al-Jihad, that championed large-scale attacks and the murder of civilians.
- As it grew, he later merged it with Al-Qaeda in the 1990s, bringing this focus on indiscriminate killing to the terrorist group.
- The 71-year-old was on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, having declared the US 'the far enemy', with a $25 million reward for information leading directly to him.
- The surgeon led a terrorist lab developing biological weapons and was the force behind Al-Qaeda's ambition to gain nuclear weapons.
- 'To kill Americans and their allies '-- civilian and military '-- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in every country in which it is possible to do it, Al-Zawahiri wrote in a 1998 manifesto.
- Three years later, he helped plan the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
- Al-Zawahiri was planned follow-on attacks across the US, and started a biological weapons program in Afghanistan. He sent group disciples out to find lethal strains of anthrax and scientists that would engage with his plans.
- However, the Egyptian abandoned the biological weapons laboratory after a US-backed military effort forced Taliban allies of Al-Qaeda out of power in Afghanistan.
- It comes after a top ISIS official was assassinated by the United States early in July when he and his deputy were hit by an American drone strike in northwest Syria.
- The strike killed senior ISIS leader Maher al-Agal, US officials said, taking credit for the daytime attack in the northern village of Khaltan in the Syrian countryside.
- Al-Agal - one of the top five leaders in the terrorist group - was riding a motorbike in the village when he was targeted by the American missile, which killed him instantly.
- Another senior ISIS official was also hit by the attack, officials said, but survived. The official, who was not named, was reportedly wounded.
- Al-Agal's body, which was badly burned and mutilated in the attack, was transported to an Idlib hospital.
- The attack took place in the Jenderies district in Afrin - an area northwest of Aleppo, near the country's shared border with Turkey.
- The war-torn region has been under occupation by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) since March 2018.
- The strike killed senior ISIS leader Maher al-Agal taking credit for the attack in the northern village of Khaltan in the Syrian countryside. Pictured are Syrian Civil Defence officials surveying the site
- The attack took place in the Jenderies district in Afrin - an area northwest of Aleppo, near the country's shared border with Turkey. The region has become a haven for hundreds of ISIS terrorists and leaders in recent years, as the country continues to face a civil war
- A $5million reward for any information leading to his capture was offered by the State Department. It was late doubled to $10million as al-Rimi was linked to numerous plots against the U.S.
- In January 2020, the United States carried out an airstrike that killed a leader of Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen after months of tracking him.
- Qassim al-Rimi, 41, was killed in the January strike but officials had been waiting to confirm the information before making public statement.
- In November, CIA personnel learned of al-Rimi's location from an informant. The government then started using surveillance drones to track him, according to an U.S. official who was briefed on the strike.
- Local news in Yemen reports that the strike killed two militant suspects in the area of Wadi Abedah in central Yemen, but did not identify who those people were.
- Al-Rimi is a veteran of the Queda training camps in Afghanistan and whose 'terrorist pedigree traces to the era before the September 11 attacks,' NYT reports.
- He then returned to Yemen and was sentenced to five years in prison there for plotting to kill the American ambassador there.
- Al-Rimi broke out of jail after only a year and quickly rose in the ranks of the Qaeda affiliate.
- A $5million reward for any information leading to his capture was offered by the State Department. It was late doubled to $10million as al-Rimi was linked to numerous plots against the U.S.
- In 2017, al-Rimi notably sent President Donald Trump an audio message taunting him for a Special Operations Forces raid on an al Qaeda compound in Yemen that led to the first military combat death under the Trump administration, CNN reports.
- Qassim al-Rimi, 41, was killed in the January strike but officials had been waiting to confirm the information before making public statement
- President Joe Biden confirmed the leader of ISIS was dead in February in what he described as a cowardly move to blow up himself and his family instead of facing justice for his terrorists acts.
- Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi set off a bomb that killed himself as well as his wife and two children during a raid by U.S. commandos on a house in northwest Syria.
- 'United States military forces successfully removed a major terrorist threat to the world,' Biden said in remarks at the White House.
- Thirteen were reported killed, including six children and four women during the mission, which involved 24 Special Operations commandos backed by attack jets, Reaper drones and helicopter gunships.
- 'As a final act of desperate cowardness, [al-Qurayshi] with no regard to the lives of his own family or others in the building, he chose to blow himself up,' Biden said, adding the ISIS leader blew up 'that third floor rather than face justice for the crimes he has committed, taking several members of his family with him.'
- ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi set off a bomb that blew himself up during a raid by U.S. special forces
- 'This horrible terrorist leader is no more,' he added.
- After al-Qurayshi was named the head of ISIS in 2019, the United States put a bounty of up to $10 million on his head.
- Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris and national security aides monitored a live-feed of the operation from the White House Situation Room, according to a photo released by the administration.
- 'This operation is testament to America's reach and capability to take out terrorist threats, no matter where they try to hide anywhere in the world. I'm determined to protect the American people from terrorist threats, and I'll take decisive action to protect this country,' Biden said in his short remarks where he took no questions.
- 'We remain vigilant. We remain prepared. Last night's operation took a major terrorist leader off the battlefield and sent a strong message to terrorists around the world: We will come after you and find you,' the president added.
- In the raid, U.S. special forces landed in helicopters and assaulted the house in a rebel-held corner of Syria, near the border with Turkey, clashing for two hours with gunmen, witnesses said in local reports.
- The raid targeted a large house in Atmeh in the Idlib region of Syria where the ISIS leader was hiding. The three-story house was left with its top floor shattered in the wake of al-Qurayshi's suicide bomb.
- It was a gruesome scene, according to local reports, with blood splattered on the white bricks that constructed the home and body parts scattered around the area.
- Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, also known as Abdullah Qardash or Hajji Abdullah, became the leader of the ISIS terrorist organization after former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi also blew himself up in a similar raid by U.S. forces in 2019 in the nearby town of Barisha.
- American helicopters carrying 24 commandoes arrived just after 1am. When they left two hours later ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was dead
- A general view shows on February 3, 2022 the scene following an overnight raid by US special operations forces against a suspected high-ranking jihadist in Atmeh, in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, which left at least 13 people dead
- A Syrian man takes a picture of a blood soaked kitchen at the scene of a US anti-terror raid in Atmeh, Idlib
- The raid by the U.S. commandos targeted a suspected jihadist leader in a house in Syria's northern town of Atmeh. The operation, which residents say lasted about two hours, jolted the village near the Turkish border - an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria's civil war. The target was killed in Atmeh, located mere miles from the town of Barisha where former ISIS leader al-Baghdadi was killed in 2019
- This combination of pictures created on February 3, 2022, from images released by the US Department of Defense shows the compound housing ISIS leader Al-Qurayshi
- Proof the Taliban has welcomed Al Qaeda back? Bin Laden's No. 2 al-Zawahiri was staying at house in Kabul linked to Afghan deputy interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani when he was minced by US Hellfire missile
- Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has been killed in a drone strike while staying at a house owned by a top aide to a senior Taliban leader in Kabul.
- It has sparked questions as to whether the Taliban has welcomed the terrorist group back in Afghanistan, having previously developed ties with the terrorist group in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
- Al-Zawahiri, 71, was hiding out with his family in a downtown Kabul property owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, according to a senior intelligence official.
- Speculation is rising as to whether this living arrangement could create further difficulties for the West's relations with Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
- It comes as US President Joe Biden's officials said that Haqqani Network leaders knew al-Zawahiri was living in Kabul.
- Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has been killed in a drone strike while staying at a house owned by a top aide to a senior Taliban leader in Kabul
- US intelligence officials tracked Zawahiri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his family. The house was owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani (pictured speaking in March 2022)
- 'Immediately after the strike, Haqqani operatives sealed off the area and relocated Zawahiri's relatives. A damning indictment of Taliban credibility,' said director of the Middle East Institute, Charles Lister.
- It may add further credibility to recent intelligence claims from the US that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the official name of the Taliban government, has allowed al-Qaeda to re-emerge in Afghanistan, after taking over the country last year.
- In June, UN security intelligence experts revealed that al-Qaeda was enjoying a 'safe haven' in Afghanistan under the Taliban and warned the country could become a base for international terrorist attacks once again.
- Following the drone strike location reveal, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said: 'This news sheds light on the possible re-emergence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan following President Biden's disastrous withdrawal a year ago.
- 'The Biden administration must provide Congress with a classified briefing as soon as possible to discuss the resurgence of al-Qaeda in the region over the past year, the current foreign terrorist threat to America, and the steps we must take to keep our country safe and prevent terrorists from entering the United States.'
- Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid (pictured August 2021) condemned the US air strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, alleging it 'violated international principles'
- Bill Roggio, military commentator and managing editor of The Long War Journal, warned DailyMail.com ahead of the address that Biden would tout Zawahiri's death as a victory.
- 'The message tonight is going to be that this was a huge counter-terrorism success. But really this means that al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan and never left.' Roggio said.
- He also cautioned there is more concern the Taliban is again harboring al-Qaeda.
- 'The big lie the Biden Administration told us to get out of Afghanistan was that al-Qaeda was gone,' Roggio explained. 'It is likely the US got Zawahiri because was over confident and operating in Kabul.
- 'He wasn't hiding out in the mountains. We're hearing that he was being sheltered by a top Taliban deputy. The Biden Administration is going to tout this as some victory of their 'over-the-horizon' capabilities, but that's the spin.'
- The Taliban formed links with al-Qaeda between 1996 and 2001, when the Islamist group ruled over Afghanistan.
- Al-Qaeda reportedly paid the Taliban $20million each year to operate in Afghanistan, as the group orchestrated its attack on New York City's World Trade Centre, killing almost 3,000 people.
- Over the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the US targeted and splintered al-Qaida, sending leaders into hiding. As the Taliban and al-Qaida spilt across the region, many collaborated and regrouped in factions, with ISIS emerging in 2014.
- The US's exit from Afghanistan last September gave al-Qaida the opportunity to rebuild.
- US military officials, including General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said that al-Qaida was trying to reconstitute in Afghanistan, where it faced limited threats from the now-ruling Taliban. Military leaders have warned that the group still aspired to attack the US.
- Ayman al-Zawahiri's location has sparked questions as to whether the Taliban has welcomed the terrorist group back in Afghanistan. Pictured, a Taliban fighter stands guard at a market in Kabul on December 20, 2021
- Over the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the US targeted and splintered al-Qaida, sending leaders into hiding. Pictured, President Joe Biden confirms the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri
- In 2020, the Taliban signed the Doha peace deal with Donald Trump's administration, saying that said it would keep ISIS and al-Qaida out of Afghanistan.
- But critics at the time said that the Taliban would provide a 'safe haven' for terrorist groups.
- 'Al-Qaeda will probably come back,' UK defense secretary Ben Wallace warned at the time.
- A statement from Afghanistan's Taliban government confirmed the air strike, but did not mention al-Zawahiri or any other casualties.
- It said it 'strongly condemns this attack and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement,' the 2020 US pact with the Taliban that led to the withdrawal of American forces.
- 'Such actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan, and the region,' the statement said.
- President Joe Biden confirmed in a televised speech that a US drone strike in Afghanistan on Sunday killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, declaring 'justice has been delivered.'
- Al-Qaeda is enjoying a 'safe haven' in Afghanistan under the Taliban, a UN report has warned. Pictured: A Taliban special forces soldier stands guard in Kabul in April
- The experts said in the report to the U.N. Security Council that the country could become a base for international terrorist attacks once again (Taliban patrol in Kabul)
- However, they added neither IS nor al-Qaeda 'is believed to be capable of mounting international attacks before 2023 at the earliest, regardless of their intent or of whether the Taliban acts to restrain them'
- 'This terrorist leader is no more,' Biden said in an evening speech from the White House.
- 'He will never again, never again, allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we're going to make sure that nothing else happens.'
- The strike, carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency, was confirmed by five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity before Biden was set to brief the American people.
- Al-Zawahiri's loss eliminates the figure who more than anyone shaped al-Qaida, first as Osama bin Laden's deputy since 1998, then as his successor.
- Together, he and bin Laden turned the jihadi movement's guns to target the United States, carrying out the deadliest attack ever on American soil '-- the September 11, 2001, World Trade Centre and Pentagon attack.
- When the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan demolished al-Qaida's safe haven and scattered, killed and captured its members, al-Zawahiri ensured al-Qaida's survival.
- He rebuilt its leadership in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and installed allies as lieutenants in key positions.
- He also reshaped the organization from a centralized planner of terror attacks into the head of a franchise chain.
- He led the assembling of a network of autonomous branches around the region, including in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, North Africa, Somalia, Yemen and Asia.
- Over the next decade, al-Qaida inspired or had a direct hand in attacks in all those areas as well as Europe, Pakistan and Turkey, including the 2004 train bombings in Madrid and the 2005 transit bombings in London.
- More recently, the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen proved itself capable of plotting attacks against US soil with an attempted 2009 bombing of an American passenger jet and an attempted package bomb the following year.
- Demi Lovato updates pronouns to she/her: 'I'm such a fluid person' | The Independent
- Demi Lovato has updated her pronouns to she/her, after previously identifying as non-binary and using they/them pronouns.
- The singer, 29, revealed during an episode of the Spout Podcast on Tuesday that she now uses she/her pronouns before explaining her reason for making the change.
- ''I've actually adopted the pronouns of she/her again,'' she told host Tamara Dhia. ''So for me, I'm such a fluid person that I don't find that I am'...I felt like, especially last year, my energy was balanced in my masculine and feminine energy.''
- ''So that when I was faced with the choice of walking into a bathroom and it said women and men, I didn't feel like there was a bathroom for me because I didn't feel necessarily like a woman, I didn't feel like a man,'' she continued. ''I just felt like a human.''
- "Recently, I've been feeling more feminine, and so I've adopted she/her again,'' she said, adding that the purpose of using they/them pronouns is about ''feeling human at your core.''
- Lovato went on to assure others that ''nobody's perfect'' and ''everyone messes up pronouns at some point, and especially when people are learning.''
- ''It's just all about respect,'' she added.
- In May 2021, Lovato came out as non-binary in a video posted to social media. The ''Sorry Not Sorry'' singer told her fans she had been ''doing some healing and self-reflective work'' within the past year and explained that she ultimately had the ''revelation that I identify as non-binary'' and would be using they/them pronouns moving forward.
- Following the announcement, Lovato changed the pronouns in her Instagram bio to read they/them. Her bio has since been updated to include she/her.
- Lovato has been open about her gender fluidity in the past, explaining to fans that there might be a time in her journey when she identifies as transgender. During an appearance at the 19th Represents Summit in 2021, the star said she is so much more ''than the binary of man and woman.''
- ''There might be a time where I identify as trans,'' Lovato said. ''There might be a time where I identify as non-binary and gender nonconforming my entire life. Or maybe there's a period of time when I get older that I identify as a woman.
- ''I have a feeling that it's not going to ever go back to one way or the other, but I just, it's about keeping it open and free and just I'm a very fluid person, and so that goes with how I express myself as well.''
- Spain bans offices, bars and shops from setting AC below 80 degrees - CBS News
- As Europeans this summer struggle with extreme heat and rising energy costs, Spain issued a decree this week requiring air conditioning in public spaces be set at or above 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit). The measure will apply to offices, shops, bars and restaurants, as well as public transport systems and transport centers.
- The guidelines also include keeping heating at or below 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter.
- The decree was part of a bill passed by the Spanish government Monday in a bid to reduce the country's gas consumption by 7%, in line with the recent European Union energy agreements to limit dependency on Russian gas.
- Shops will also be obliged to keep doors closed and heating systems must be checked more often to increase efficiency under the new measures, Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera said.
- The measures include switching off store window lights after 10 p.m. Street lighting will not be affected.
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez announced the new package last week, saying, "You just need to walk into a shopping mall to realize that maybe the temperature is set too low."
- Not all officials were on board with the changes. Isabel Diaz Ayuso, Community of Madrid president, wrote in a translated tweet Monday, "Madrid does not go out. This generates insecurity and scares away tourism and consumption."
- Por parte de la Comunidad de Madrid no se aplicar. Madrid no se apaga.Esto genera inseguridad y espanta el turismo y el consumo.
- Provoca oscuridad, pobreza, tristeza, mientras el Gobierno tapa la pregunta: qu(C) ahorro se va a aplicar a s mismo? https://t.co/3nDyfnwsxb
- '-- Isabel Daz Ayuso (@IdiazAyuso) August 1, 2022Spain is not the only European country trying to combat energy usage and cost. According to The Guardian, France has told businesses which use air conditioning to keep their doors closed or risk being fined. Germany has banned the use of mobile air conditioning and fan heaters.
- During a heat wave last month, Spain recorded temperatures as high as 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit). According to Spain's Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related fatalities daily, 360 deaths were attributed to high temperatures from July 10 to 15. That was compared with 27 temperature-related deaths the previous six days.
- Spain is one of the hottest European countries in the summer months. The country has already had two heat waves this year with temperatures often surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for several days in a row. Temperatures are forecast to soar again in the first weeks of August.
- Spain is one of several European nations which have contended with large wildfires this summer, including France, Italy Portugal, Greece, Germany and the Czech Republic. The fires have forced thousands of people to evacuate.
- Spain's decree will remain in place until at least November 2023.
- More In: Climate Change Russia Spain European Union oil and gas
- Michael Saylor Bet Billions on Bitcoin and Lost - WSJ
- The longtime MicroStrategy CEO, and perhaps the biggest bitcoin bull, steps down
- If you ask Michael Saylor why he bet the future of his company on bitcoin, he'll tell you he didn't have a choice.
- In 2020, MicroStrategy Inc.'s stock was stagnant, and the tech company struggled to compete with software giants. ''We were either going to die a fast death, or a slow death, or embark on a risky strategy,'' he said.
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- If you ask Michael Saylor why he bet the future of his company on bitcoin, he'll tell you he didn't have a choice.
- In 2020, MicroStrategy Inc.'s stock was stagnant, and the tech company struggled to compete with software giants. ''We were either going to die a fast death, or a slow death, or embark on a risky strategy,'' he said.
- He opted to buy bitcoin'--lots of it. That decision backfired, badly. On Tuesday, MicroStrategy announced Mr. Saylor would step down as CEO, a position he has held since 1989, amid mounting losses tied to bitcoin.
- His dalliance with bitcoin began on Aug. 11, 2020 when the company announced a plan to take $250 million'--half of its corporate reserve'--and convert it into bitcoin. It has since doubled down, and doubled down again.
- In total, MicroStrategy raised $2.4 billion in debt and loans. It issued $1 billion in equity. The company used it all to buy bitcoin.
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- For a time, the decision appeared to be working. The price of bitcoin rose from about $11,900 in August 2020 to nearly $69,000 by November 2021. MicroStrategy's stock rose from $124 the day before its announcement to a record of $1,273 on Feb. 9, 2021.
- But on Tuesday, MicroStrategy announced its seventh quarterly loss in the eight quarters since it started buying bitcoin. This time the loss was big: $1 billion, much of that from bitcoin.
- The same day, the company announced Phong Le, the company's president, will take on the additional role of CEO. Mr. Saylor took on the role of executive chairman.
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- MicroStrategy shares were down 49% year-to-date through Tuesday, and 78% from its record.
- The company is sitting on nearly 130,000 bitcoins valued at roughly $3 billion at current market prices. Its market capitalization is about $3.1 billion. Essentially, MicroStrategy has become a bitcoin-holding vehicle with a cash-generating software business attached to it.
- MicroStrategy's losses reflect the volatility of bitcoin. Under accounting rules, the company must assess the value of its bitcoin holdings each quarter and take an impairment charge if the price has declined. MicroStrategy has taken a string of such charges totaling about $2 billion.
- The bitcoin strategy turned Mr. Saylor into one of bitcoin's most visible proponents. His Twitter feed, followed by 2.6 million, is a constant stream of pro-bitcoin quips.
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- He is uniformly bullish in interviews. In one, he advised people to ''take all your money and buy bitcoin. Then take all your time, figure out how to borrow more money to buy more bitcoin. Then take all your time to figure out what you can sell to buy bitcoin.''
- He similarly advised a conference room full of crypto enthusiasts in Miami to never sell their bitcoin.
- It is this very philosophy that has worried some market observers.
- ''MicroStrategy is not an ideal investment for most traders,'' said Oanda analyst Edward Moya.
- For one thing, Mr. Moya said, MicroStrategy's strategy was only to buy and hold bitcoin. There was no profit-taking. There also was no hedging against the inevitable volatility and tumbles. When the selloffs came, MicroStrategy was exposed to the full breadth of them.
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- Another problem is that the company doesn't have many more ways to get more money to buy more bitcoin, said BTIG analyst Mark Palmer. ''A lot of the levers MicroStrategy could have pulled to create more capacity have been pulled,'' he said. ''Now it's just using the cash flow from the software business.''
- Still, Mr. Palmer said, the ultimate judgment on MicroStrategy's bitcoin bet won't come until some of that debt it borrowed to buy bitcoin starts to mature. If the price of bitcoin languishes, the company is going to have problems paying back its creditors, he said.
- ''The ticking clock is the maturity of the MicroStrategy debt,'' he said.
- Despite the risks and the criticisms, Mr. Saylor still believes in his strategy, and bitcoin. In an interview last week, he noted that the stock is still well above its pre-bitcoin levels, and believes the strategy has raised the company's profile, despite the risks attached to it.
- ''I feel better about it today than I did on the day we started,'' he said.
- He says he will continue to head MicroStrategy's bitcoin investments. He has no plans to sell any bitcoin, and still expects it to gain in value over the years. The company reiterated Tuesday it has no plans to sell any bitcoin.
- Mr. Saylor said swapping the CEO roles had been a long-term plan. ''The new executive structure means I can even more enthusiastically focus on communications and strategy and bitcoin advocacy and evangelism,'' he said.
- Write to Paul Vigna at paul.vigna@wsj.com
- Barbara Baarsma appointed CEO of the Rabo Carbon Bank
- The top economist will lead a bank where carbon is the currency 15 February 2021
- On March 1, Barbara Baarsma, current chair of Rabobank Amsterdam, will start as CEO of the Rabo Carbon Bank. This new business initiative is developing propositions that will enable customers to contact the bank not only for financial transactions but also for buying and selling CO2 credits. The Carbon Bank develops projects that store CO2 in the trees and soil, in cooperation with farmers. The bank then mediates between parties that store CO2 and companies that want to reduce or compensate for their emissions. Under Baarsma's leadership, Rabobank will accelerate and develop this initiative.
- Rabobank launched its first Carbon Bank product on January 29, 2021: an agroforestry initiative in African countries. This initiative focuses on tree planting by 15 million small-scale farmers. By 2025, the goal is to capture about 150 megatons of CO2 equivalents (about 0.5% of annual global emissions). These farmers sell the units of bonded carbon to large corporates, which can compensate for their emissions. This CO2 storage not only provides farmers with a new source of income, the trees planted also improve their agricultural land and generate additional income through, for example, fruit harvesting.
- Not money but carbon as currency"Monetary appreciation of environmental goods has always fascinated me as an economist. My thesis at university was about it and I did research on how goods, which are not priced on the market can be priced with a price tag," says Barbara Baarsma. "That's what the Rabo Carbon Bank is all about. It's a bank where not money but carbon is the currency. It is fantastic that I can do this as a Rabobank banker."
- Contributing to a climate-neutral economy & future-proof food systemBaarsma: ''As a banker I feel like I'm a servant of the real economy. With the Rabo Carbon Bank we are realizing a new business model for the bank with which we can accelerate the movement toward a climate-neutral economy and stimulate a future-proof food system. This is an excellent opportunity for our cooperative bank. We are active throughout the food value chain. Not only do we have a global network in Food & Agri sectors, we also serve the major players in the market who want to address their CO2 emissions. We will work together with them to reduce their emissions and offer them validated CO2 storage capabilities with the Carbon Bank.''
- Driving and strengthening carbon banking''In order to achieve the Paris climate goals, it is essential that companies become more sustainable and reduce their net CO2 emissions to zero,'' says Wiebe Draijer, chairman of Rabobank's managing board. ''Everyone has their role to play. Rabobank does this, among other things, by focusing on carbon banking. Thanks to Barbara's expertise and determination, we can drive and strengthen this new development within the bank.''
- Berry Marttin, member of the group board and responsible for Wholesale & Rural: ''I'm delighted to have Barbara on board. In the near future, we will further set up and expand the Rabo Carbon Bank with various projects and initiatives. Ultimately, we want to involve the entire value chain in this movement.''
- Baarsma has been the chair of Rabobank Amsterdam since January 1, 2019. The process for finding her successor has started.
- Curriculum vitae Barbara BaarsmaBarbara Baarsma joined Rabobank in 2016. Until 2019 she was Director of Knowledge Development and responsible for RaboResearch. In this capacity, she developed the Rabobank-wide knowledge agenda and the design for the knowledge organization. From 2019 to March 1, 2021, she was chair of the executive board of Rabobank Amsterdam. In addition to her work at Rabobank, Baarsma is professor of applied economics at the University of Amsterdam. She is also chair of the Bank Council of DNB and a member of the Monitoring Committee Corporate Governance, the Dutch Committee for Entrepreneurship and the Advisory Board of the Taskforce Korte Keten (short chains). From 2012 to 2019 she was crown member of the Social Economic Council (SER).
- Published: February 15 2021, 06:00 CET
- 'They Are Right on Our Predicted Schedule': Retired US Generals Issue Warning About New Pandemic Declaration
- Two retired U.S. generals, MG Paul Vallely, U.S. Army, and Thomas McInerney, USAF, raised concerns over the World Health Organization's recent declaration of monkeypox as a global health emergency, alleging potential ulterior motives.
- ''Each of us should not be alarmed by this alert as the credibility of WHO is in great question based on their actions and notices on COVID-19,'' Vallely told The Epoch Times.
- ''The rare designation means the WHO now views the outbreak as a significant enough threat to global health that a coordinated international response is needed to prevent the virus from spreading further and potentially escalating into a pandemic,'' Vallely said.
- ''Beware of this politically driven global organization that is funded by the global elite.''
- MonkeypoxMonkeypox is a disease primarily transmitted through the sexual activity of gay and bisexual men.
- ''I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern,'' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a July 23 statement.
- Tedros Adhanom (L), Director General of the World Health Organization, shakes hands with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Naohiko Hatta/Pool/Getty Images)Ghebreyesus said that his decision was due to an increase of monkeypox cases in the world, now having been reported in over 75 countries and territories, with over 16,000 infections and five deaths.
- A report published on July 23 lays out the reasons that the committee members had for and against declaring monkeypox a global emergency.
- ''Although the declaration does not impose requirements on national governments, it serves as an urgent call for action. The WHO can only issue guidance and recommendations to its member states, not mandates. Member states are required to report events that pose a threat to global health,'' Vallely said.
- ''WHO Director Tedros is not a medical doctor, he is a Marxist from Ethiopia, totally supported by the Chinese Communist Party. He lied about C-19 from the beginning to cover for China,'' Vallely added.
- Paul E Vallely MG US Army (Ret) (Courtesy of Paul E Vallely)McInerney says that they predicted that the declaration of another pandemic would happen around this time of the year.
- ''They are right on our predicted schedule,'' McInerney said.
- ''We shall not conform to their guidelines, we must resist lockdowns,'' he further stated, ''now is the time for America and the world and we the people to say no!''
- ''Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!'' the general exclaimed.
- The Epoch Times reached out to the WHO for comment.
- Enrico Trigoso is an Epoch Times reporter focusing on the NYC area.
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