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☆ Army Officer Resigns in Protest of ‘Unqualified’ U.S. Support to Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An Army officer assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency has resigned in protest over the United States’ support for Israel, which he said had “enabled and empowered” the killing of Palestinian civilians. The officer, Maj. Harrison Mann, announced his resignation and explained his reasons for leaving the service in a post on the social media site LinkedIn on Monday. According to his biography on the site, he has specialized in the Middle East and Africa for about half of his 13-year career and previously served at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis. “The policy that has never been far from my mind for the past six months is the nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel, which has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians,” Major Mann wrote in the post, which noted that he had previously emailed his comments to co-workers on April 16. “This unconditional support also encourages reckless escalation that risks wider war.”

Persons: Harrison Mann, ” Major Mann, ” Organizations: Army, Defense Intelligence Agency, Israel, U.S, Embassy Locations: United States, East, Africa, Tunis, “, Israel

☆ Chinese warplane fired flares, put Australian Navy helicopter in danger, Canberra says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The Chinese jet “dropped flares about 300 meters (984 feet) in front of the Seahawk helicopter and about 60 meters (197 feet) above it,” Marles said in an interview with 9 News on Monday. The MH-60 Seahawk is a twin-engine helicopter and carries a crew of three, according to the Australian Navy. “They’re in international waters, international airspace, and they’re doing work to ensure that the sanctions that the world has imposed through the United Nations on North Korea, due to their intransient and reckless behavior, are enforced,” the prime minister told CNN affiliate Nine News. According to Australian public broadcaster ABC, Australian Navy Vice Adm. Mark Hammond raised the Toowoomba incident in a meeting with Chinese navy Adm. Hu Zhongming at an international naval symposium in Qingdao. Earlier in 2022, Australia said a Chinese warship used a laser to “illuminate” an Australian P-8A aircraft in waters north of Australia.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles, ” Marles, Albanese, “, ” Albanese, “ We’ve, ”, Maj, Rob Millen, Peter Dutton, Xi Jinping, ” Dutton, Mark Hammond, Hu Zhongming, Hammond Organizations: South Korea CNN —, Seahawk, Nations, Defense Ministry, Australian Defense, Australian Navy, United Nations, North, Australian Defense Ministry, CNN, Nine, Royal Canadian Navy, Australian Defence Force, Nine News, Australian, ABC, ” ABC, Pilots Locations: Seoul, South Korea, South Korea CNN — Australia, North Korea, Canberra, Beijing, China, Canadian, South, Ottawa, Australia, Philippines, Japan, United States, Chinese, Toowoomba, Qingdao, “, South China Sea, ”, Australian

☆ Opinion | I’ve Been Under Bombardment. There Must Be a Cease-Fire in Gaza.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Megan K. Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

I’ve watched U.S. warplanes attack Afghanistan; barely escaped a direct strike from a Russian MiG in Georgia, and lived for weeks under relentless Israeli bombardment in Lebanon. Israel has so far killed more than 8,000 people, the Gaza Health Ministry said, more than 40 percent of them children. But having spent time under bombardment, and having reported in Gaza, I have no time for these explanations. If we are to believe the Israeli political and military leadership’s own words — and I think we should — the assault on Gaza was driven, first, by straightforward vengeance. We could find out with a cease-fire, but they say we can’t ask for a cease-fire.

Persons: I’ve, keening, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, “, Maj, Ghassan, ”, Ron Derner, Yoav Gallant, You’re Organizations: U.S, Gaza Health Ministry, Hamas, Israeli Defense Forces, ”, Israel Locations: Afghanistan, Russian, Georgia, Lebanon, Gaza, Israel, United States, America, Jerusalem

☆ Iran’s Military Chief Warns U.S. Over Arming Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran’s military chief warned the U.S. against sending weapons to Israel, saying it would further complicate the situation in Gaza. U.S. support for Israel "is considered as participation by the American government in the Zionist regime’s crimes,” Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said in remarks published by Iranian state media.

Persons: Maj, Mohammad Bagheri Organizations: Iranian Armed Forces Locations: Israel, Gaza . U.S

☆ Kfar Aza: Children, women, elderly 'butchered' in Hamas attacks on border communities, IDF says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Muhammad Darwish Nic Robertson Artemis Moshtaghian Amir Tal Ivana Kottasová Sana Noor Haq | Muhammad Darwish | Nic Robertson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

Among those killed in Kfar Aza were children, women and elderly, the IDF said. Kfar Aza is one of the several kibbutzim, small farming enclaves, that bore the brunt of Hamas’ ground assault on Saturday. A number of kibbutzim and towns were targeted in the first wave of Hamas’ assault, including Kfar Aza, Be’eri, Ofakim, Sderot, Yad Mordechai, Yated, Kissufim and Urim. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images Israeli soldiers take position in Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza on October 10. But I never thought I would see…things like that,” he said about the scene in Kfar Aza.

Persons: Kfar, Kfar Aza, Be’eri, Yad Mordechai, Yated, Revelers, Eden Guez, Violeta Santos Moura, Mohammed Salem, CNN Sergey Ponomarev, Mohammed Abed, Atef Safadi, Fatima Shbair, Tamir Kalifa, Ohad, Mohammed Soboh, Said, Noam Elimeleh Rothenberg, Yuri Cortez, Belal Khaled, Samar Abu, Amir Cohen, Ilai Bar Sade, Erik Marmor, Ali Jadallah, Oren Ziv, Mohammed Saber, Ronen Zvulun, Majdi, Ilia Yefimovich, Ramez Mahmoud, Mahmud Hams, Roi Levy, Alleruzzo, Tali Touito, Khan, Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Jalaa Marey, Oded, Khan Younis, Ahmad Hasballah, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Tsafrir, Ahmad Gharabli, Baz Ratner, Mustafa Hassona, Ilan Rosenberg, Eyad Baba, Itai Ron, Hadas Parush, “, Muhammad Darwish, CNN “ I’ve, Maj, Itai Veruv, Aza, Veruv, ”, ” Veruv, CNN Veruv, Richard Hecht, Wayne Lucas, ” Lucas, Urim, Lucas Organizations: Israel CNN —, Hamas, Israel Defense Forces, CNN, Jewish Agency for Israel, Kan, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Nova Festival, Reuters, New York Times, Getty, Ben Gurion, AP, Mount, Anadolu Agency, Shifa, West Bank, Rockets, Israel's, United Nations, Palestinian, Reuters Police, Reuters Rockets, Israel’s Channel, IDF, Nova, Lone Soldier Center Locations: Kfar Aza, Israel, Aza, Gaza, Kfar, Ofakim, Sderot, Yad, Be’eri, Ashkelon, Gaza City, Kfar Azza, AFP, Tel Aviv, Mount Herzel, Jerusalem, Samar, Samar Abu Elouf, Yassin, Palestinian, Beitar Ilit, Mount Herzl, Ramat Gan, Khan Younis, Israeli, Kiryat Shmona, Itai, Beit Hanun, Rishon Lezion, Europe, Be'eri, Virginia, Urim

☆ Driver Plows Car Into Migrant Workers in ‘Intentional Assault,’ Police Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Livia Albeck-Ripka | More About Livia Albeck-Ripka | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

plowed into a group of six migrant workers outside a Walmart in Lincolnton, N.C., on Sunday in an “intentional assault,” the police said. with a luggage rack, steered toward the group, according to a statement released on Sunday evening by the Lincolnton Police Department. The episode was caught on video, and the department was asking the public for help in identifying the vehicle or the driver. All six of the workers were transported to Atrium Health Lincoln with “various injuries” that were not life-threatening, the police said. “None is in critical condition,” Maj. Brian R. Greene of the Lincolnton Police Department said by telephone.

Persons: Maj, Brian R, Greene Organizations: Walmart, Lincolnton Police Department, Health, Lincolnton Police Locations: Lincolnton, N.C

☆ Turmoil in Florida’s New State Guard, as Some Recruits Quit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Frances Robles | More About Frances Robles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Of the 150 people accepted into the program, 120 had graduated, program officials said. “We are aware that some trainees who were removed are dissatisfied,” Maj. Gen. John D. Haas, Florida’s adjutant general, said in a statement. “This is to be expected with any course that demands rigor and discipline,” he added. The original plan to field 200 volunteers with a budget of $3.5 million, proposed in late 2021, grew to 1,500 people and $108 million. The first-year budget includes $50 million for five aircraft and $2.7 million for boats — equipment that many experts say is beyond the budget of most State Guards.

Persons: ” Maj, John D, Haas, Newhouse Organizations: Guards, Mr, The Times

☆ Two U.S. Army Helicopters Crash in Alaska, Killing 3 Soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Livia Albeck-Ripka | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two U.S. Army helicopters returning from a training flight crashed in Alaska on Thursday with four people aboard, killing three soldiers and injuring the fourth, Army officials said. The Army’s 11th Airborne Division confirmed the deaths late Thursday, saying that the two AH-64 Apache helicopters had crashed near Healy, Alaska, which is more than 200 miles north of Anchorage. Two of the four soldiers were declared dead at the crash site, and a third died on the way to a hospital in Fairbanks, it said. “This is an incredible loss for these soldiers’ families, their fellow soldiers, and for the division,” Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, the division’s commanding general, said in a statement. John M. Pennell, a spokesman for 11th Airborne Division, said that he did not yet have details on the injured soldier’s condition.

☆ Pentagon Aid Package to Ukraine Includes Decades-Old Anti-Tank Land Mines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s most recent package of weapons for Ukraine includes relics from the Cold War to help blunt Russian advances and limit their ability to maneuver during an expected spring offensive. Those weapons, M21 anti-tank land mines, have been in service with the Defense Department since at least the early 1960s. An unknown number of them will be sent to Ukraine as part of a $325 million package of aid from U.S. military stockpiles that was announced this week, the 36th such transfer of lethal matériel to Kyiv since August 2021. M21 mines — large metal-bodied weapons that are usually buried and explode when a vehicle drives over them — contain a specialized warhead built to punch through inches of armor plating. “Anti-tank land mines are an important defensive capability against Russia’s tanks and armored vehicles, helping Ukraine’s forces repel Russia’s attacks and shape the battlefield to Ukraine’s advantage,” Maj. Charlie Dietz, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday.

☆ U.S. arms left in Afghanistan are turning up in a different conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Junaid Kathju | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

At least six people were injured on Jan. 21 in two explosions in the city of Jammu. Though more than half of it was ground vehicles, it also included more than 316,000 weapons worth almost $512 million, plus ammunition and other accessories. The Defense Department report also pointed out that the operational condition of the Afghan army’s equipment was unknown. Manoj Sinha said the government was aware of the issue and that measures were in place to combat the infiltration of U.S. weapons into Kashmir. Kashmir police official Vijay Kumar also said authorities were fully capable of countering the militant threat.

☆ South Korea launches jets and fires shots after North flies drones
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The military responded by firing warning shots and launching fighter jets and attack helicopters to shoot down the North Korean drones. The attack helicopters fired a combined 100 rounds but it wasn’t immediately known if the North Korean drones were shot down. It’s the first time for North Korean drones to enter South Korean airspace since 2017, when a suspected North Korean drone was found crashed in South Korea. North Korea has previously touted its drone program, and South Korean officials said the North has about 300 drones. North Korea released low-resolution photos of South Korean cities as viewed from space, but some experts in South Korea said the images were too crude for surveillance purposes.

☆ Inside the Syrian refugee camp where supplies are low and ISIS fears run high
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Courtney-Kube-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Courtney Kube | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Members of the Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces inspect tents at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, on Aug. 28, 2022, during a security campaign by the Syrian Democratic Forces against IS "sleeper cells" in the camp. While most ISIS fighters were killed or captured, their families were bused to the refugee camp as a temporary holding place, but with no long-term alternatives. In September, the SDF conducted an operation to root out ISIS fighters inside the camp. Over 24 days, they rounded up about 300 ISIS fighters, killed several more, and confiscated weapons and explosives. U.S. military officials warn that ISIS has divisions of troops waiting to fight inside Hasakah and the other prisons.

☆ Here’s why hurricane hunters fly their planes in weird patterns into storms
▼ + stars: | 2021-09-19 | by ( Allison Chinchar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —The second half of hurricane season is here and there have already been 17 named storms to keep hurricane hunters busy. But have you ever noticed hurricane hunters’ flight patterns shown by meteorologists on TV look like random, odd shapes? Hurricane hunters don’t fly away from these storms like commercial airlines do. There are two distinctive groups of hurricane hunters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Air Force Reserve (USAF). Fixed missionsFixed missions are designated for systems that meet tropical cyclone qualifications, such as tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes.

☆ The Hamas Big Fish Who Got Away
▼ + stars: | 2003-09-06 | by ( Laura Blumenfeld | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Wonder Land: Hamas knew that after Oct. 7 the narrative would shift to the isolation of Israel. Images: Zuma Press/AFP/Getty Images Composite: Mark KellyPresident Biden warned Israel not to be “consumed by rage,” even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “mighty vengeance” against Hamas. “We blew it,” Maj. Gen. Yoav Gallant , now Israel’s defense minister, told me following a Sept. 6, 2003, airstrike on Hamas leadership. Eight senior Hamas commanders, including bomb makers and developers of Qassam rockets, had met for lunch on the ground floor of a Gaza home. It was a rare daylight appearance of Mohammed Deif , Hamas’s shadowy military leader.

Persons: Mark Kelly President Biden, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, “, Maj, Yoav Gallant, Mohammed Deif Organizations: Zuma Press, Getty, Washington Post Locations: Israel, Washington, Gaza

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