DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ A Ukrainian commando described being thrown off a speedboat while under fire, then telling his comrades to abandon him
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Earlier this month, Ukraine said it recaptured Black Sea drilling rigs in a daring raid. During the mission, Russian fighter jets shot at a Ukrainian boat, and one soldier fell overboard. In an exclusive interview with the outlet Ukrainian Pravda published last week, the commando described the dramatic ordeal in detail. The fighting caused the Ukrainian skipper to make sharp turns, and Conan fell overboard. The Black Sea has become a hotbed of military activity in the war.

Persons: Conan Organizations: Ukrainian Pravda, Service, Pravda, Ukraine, Russian Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Crimea

☆ Black Sea Fleet: Ukraine has Russian targets in Crimea in its sights. Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The seizure earlier this month of oil platforms in the Black Sea by Ukrainian commandos has given them another jumping-off point and affected the Russian Black Sea fleet’s freedom of navigation. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has been involved in hundreds of cruise missile attacks against Ukraine and threatens merchant shipping using Ukrainian ports. This image taken from UGC video, uploaded to Telegram with a watermark, shows smoke rising from the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. The Black Sea Fleet is still a powerful element of Russia’s offensive capability, but becoming less so by the week. “The Black Sea Fleet is more than its naval assets, and the Ukrainian attacks on the Black Sea Fleet will likely achieve effects beyond the degradation of Russian naval capabilities,” concludes the ISW.

Persons: “, Joseph Richter, Andrii Yusov, It’s, it’s, ” Organizations: CNN, Crimea –, Ukraine’s Security, The, 744th Communications Center, Command, Black, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, Ukrainian, Initiative, Ukrainian Neptune, UGC, Fleet, 810th Naval Infantry Brigade, Fleet’s, Army Corps Locations: Ukrainian, Russian, Ukraine, Crimea, Saky, Sevastopol, Verkhniosadove, “, Russia, Ukrainian Crimea, ”, Crimean, Moscow, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, –, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Kherson Oblast

☆ Worried about vulnerable airbases, a US ally landed a F-35A stealth fighter on a highway for the first time in NATO's newest member
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Norway's military did something that's never been done before and landed a F-35A on a highway for the first time. Not only for the Norwegian Air Force, but also for the Nordic countries, and for NATO. Norwegian F-35A taking off from a highway in Finland for the first time. Norwegian F-35A taking off from a highway in Finland for the first time. The F-35A is used by the Air Force while the F-35C is employed by the Navy and Marine Corps aboard carriers.

Persons: that's, Finland —, —, Rolf Folland, Folland, Eivind Byre, Eirik Kristoffersen, Ole Andreas Vekve, it's, Lockheed Martin, Tony Bauernfeind Organizations: Service, Norwegian Armed Forces, Norwegian Air Force, Nordic, NATO, Royal Norwegian Air Force, US Air Force, Air Force, Lockheed, Marine Corps, Marines, Pacific, Navy, Air Force Special Operations Command Locations: Wall, Silicon, Norway, Finland, NATO, Finnish, Nordic, Michigan, Wyoming, Texas, Norwegian, Southern California, Russia, China

☆ Every item an air commando carries for a mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Jake Gabbard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Airman 1st Class Devyn, a US Air Force DAGRE team member, walks us through every piece of equipment he would carry with him on a mission as an air commando. DAGRE, or Deployed Aircraft Ground Response Element, team members are special-operations security forces that often work alongside Navy SEALs and Green Berets on missions focused on securing hostile airfields, protecting VIPs, and apprehending enemy combatants.

Organizations: US Air Force, Navy, Green Berets

☆ Every Item a DAGRE Air Commando Carries for a Mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Jake Gabbard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Organizations: US Air Force, Navy, Green Berets, Business

☆ British commandos have trained hundreds of Ukrainian marines in the 'art' of amphibious raids
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

For six months, British Royal Marines have been training hundreds of Ukrainian marines in "the art" of conducting commando raids and complicated amphibious operations. The British Royal Marines Commandos are one of the best amphibious-warfare units in the world. Ukrainian marines training with British Royal Marines in March 2023. Ukrainian marines training in the UK in February 2023. Ukrainian marines could also join the shadowy fight taking place in the marshes and inlets of the Dnipro River Delta.

Persons: Mark Johnson, Ben Wallace, Wallace, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Stavros Atlamazoglou Organizations: British Royal Marines, Ministry of Defence, British Royal Marine Commandos, British Royal Navy, Royal Navy, British Commandos, UK Royal Marines, British Royal Marines Commandos, Commandos, Royal Marines, Argentine, British Marines, Naval Center of Special, Hellenic Army, 575th Marine Battalion, Army, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins School, International Studies, Boston College Law School Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Crimean, Crimea, British, Argentina, East Falkland, Dnipro, Russian, Delta

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a plenum session of the lower house of parliament, Bundestag, for a general debate on the Federal Government policy in Berlin, Germany September 6, 2023. The chancellor announced a new "Germany pact" with a bundle of measures aimed at reducing bureaucracy, speeding up approval processes for new construction and digitising citizens’ access to key government services. The chancellor rejected the idea of fresh stimulus to boost an economy battling high inflation, financing costs and a drop in exports. Such sums showed Germany was holding its own vis-à-vis the U.S. and the $430 billion U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, he said. For a special Reuters World News podcast on what is ailing the German economy please click here .

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Annegret, Scholz, Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke, Thomas Escritt, Miranda Murray, Friederike Heine Our Organizations: Bundestag, Federal Government, REUTERS, Scholz's Social Democrats, Deutsche, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, BERLIN, Europe's

☆ Ukraine war: Kyiv's burgeoning weapons industry is enabling it to project power far beyond the front lines
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —In the early hours of August 29th, swarms of Ukrainian drones flew across seven Russian regions. One Russian blogger complained that the Pskov strike indicated that Russian air defenses had not adapted to defend against repeated Ukrainian drone strikes. The damage being done is not going to break the back of the Russian air force, but it has become a serious irritant. Open-source reporting suggests there are at least several Pantsir-2 air defense batteries around Moscow. Such weapons put Russian forces on notice that they are vulnerable far from the front lines.

Persons: Volodymr Zelensky, Russia –, Volodymyr Zelensky, Oleksiy Reznikov, Mykhailo Podolyak, Vitalii, Danilov, ” Zelensky, Podolyak, Kyrylo Budanov, gamesmanship –, Mick Ryan, Budanov, Yuriy Inhat, Putin, ” Organizations: CNN, Defense, “, Getty Senior, National Security and Defense, Ukraine’s, of Strategic Industries, Strategic Communication, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, SIG, The, Ukrainian Air Force Locations: Pskov, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Russian, Crimea, Russia, Moscow, “ Ukraine, Kyiv, Kerch, Novosibirsk, Australian, Crimean, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Berdiansk, Donetsk

☆ Children Left Dangling for Hours in Cable Car After Cables Break
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pakistani officials were scrambling a rescue effort on Tuesday after seven schoolchildren and an adult were left hanging dangerously for hours in a cable car at an altitude of 6,500 feet after two of its cables broke. The cable car, which travels over a stream, is a regular mode of transport for residents of the mountainous northern region, and the children, ages 10 to 12, were en route to a nearby school. As panic gripped the passengers and their families, they issued urgent pleas for assistance. The authorities sent an army helicopter to the site, and video on local television showed it hovering above the cable car at some distance as a commando slid down a rope and delivered food and water. But as the helicopter tried to get closer to the cable car, the car seemed to begin shaking heavily, which appeared to make an air rescue difficult.

Locations: Allai, Battagram, Khyber, Pakhthunkwa Province

☆ Japan's military is thinking about how to drop long-range cruise missiles from its biggest panes
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( David Cenciotti | The Aviationist | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Japan is considering using its Kawasaki C-2 tactical transport aircraft to drop stand-off missiles. A Kawasaki C-2 flies around the Hawaiian Islands in September 2022. The Rapid Dragon allows the deployment of long-range cruise missiles using standard airdrop procedures from a cargo aircraft. After successful extraction, the AGM-158B JASSM-ER (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range) missiles extend their wings and turn on the engine. The Kawasaki C-2 is a long range twin-engine transport aircraft designed to replace the old C-1.

Persons: Makensie Cooper, JASDF Organizations: Kawasaki, Service, Japan's Defense, Japan Times, US, US Air Force, Japan's Defense Ministry, US Air Force Special Operations Command Locations: Japan, Wall, Silicon, United States

☆ Israel judicial overhaul: protests mount against Benjamin Netanyahu after bill passed
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The bill curbing Supreme Court review of some government decisions passed in a stormy Knesset parliament on Monday after a walkout by lawmakers. Protest leaders said growing numbers of military reservists would no longer report for duty if the government continued with its plans. First elected to top office in 1996 and now in his sixth term, Netanyahu, 73, is facing his biggest domestic crisis. A Lebanese source familiar with the development said the men were members of a Hezbollah elite unit on a patrol that had nothing to do with Israel's domestic crisis. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said Israel's domestic crisis showed it was on a "path of collapse and fragmentation".

Persons: Netanyahu, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yair Lapid, Zion Hagay, Kan, Corinna Kern, striding, Hassan Nasrallah, Bezalel Smotrich, Dan Williams, Ari Rabinovitch, Henriette Chacar, Andrew MacAskill, Laila Bassam, Tom Perry, Andrew Cawthorne, Nick Macfie Organizations: Israeli Democracy, Israel Bar Association, Israel Medical Association, Health Ministry, REUTERS, BANK, Orthodox Jewish, West Bank, Hamas, Hezbollah, Finance, Army Radio, Thomson Locations: JERUSALEM, Israel, Histadrut, United States, Britain, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Washington, Nablus, Palestinian, Lebanese, Iran, London, Beirut

☆ How a record-setting 'Ugly Baby' mission allowed US special operators to outmaneuver Iraqi forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

US special-operations forces wanted to infiltrate northern Iraq to tied down Iraqi forces there. Operation Ugly BabyA map of the Ugly Baby mission route along Iraq's western border on March 22, 2003. US Green Berets in an MC-130H heading to Iraq during Operation Ugly Baby on March 22, 2003. A US special-operations aircraft that was forced land by enemy fire during Operation Ugly Baby in March 2003. In all, Task Force Viking numbered about 400 special operators, including elite Delta Force commandos, Green Berets from the 10th Special Forces Group, and frogmen from the UK's Special Boat Service.

Persons: —, Saddam Hussein, Elwell, JOSEPH BARRAK, Baby, Stavros Atlamazoglou Organizations: Service, Operation, US, Allies, US Army, Operation Iraqi, NATO, Turkish, Special Forces, Green Berets, Air, Special Operations Squadron, Detachment Alpha, Air Force, Task Force, US Army 173rd Airborne Brigade, Getty, Delta Force, 10th Special Forces Group, CIA, Republication Guard, Hellenic Army, 575th Marine Battalion, Army, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins, School, International Locations: Iraq, Operation Iraqi, Baghdad, reorienting, Turkey, Kurdish, Turkish, Romania, Jordan, Syria, Erbil, AFP, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Johns

☆ How a dysfunctional mission in the Caribbean became 'the pivotal point' for the creation of US Special Operations Command
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Those problems helped spur the creation of US Special Operations Command several years later. According to Maj. Gen. Richard Scholtes, the first commander of Joint Special Operations Command, US military officers involved in the planning soon butted heads. A task force of Delta Force operators, Rangers, and helicopters from the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment also attacked Fort Rupert and Richmond Hill Prison. Bettmann/Getty Images"The Pentagon was waging a frontal and rear assault in opposition to the creation of a special operations command," William Cohen said in the mid-2000s, according to Kukielski's article. Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.

Persons: —, Peter Carrette, Eagle, JSOC, Reagan, Richard Scholtes, butted, jean, Louis Atlan, Scholtes, Philip Kukielski, frogmen, Fort, Paul Scoon, Bettmann, Formally, William Cohen, Cohen, Nunn, Eric BOUVET, SOCOM, Chance, Stavros Atlamazoglou Organizations: Operations Command, Service, Fury, Pentagon, Delta Force, Soviet Union, Getty, US Atlantic Command, Atlantic Command, US Marine Corps, CIA, State Department, Team, Air Commando, US Defense, Rangers, 2nd Ranger, Porto Salines, Marines, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Radio Free, US, Dover Air Force Base, Special Warfare, Craft, 160th, American, Hellenic Army, 575th Marine Battalion, Army, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins, School, International Locations: Grenada, Caribbean, Tehran, Cuba, Soviet, Richmond, Porto, Fort Rupert, Rupert, Radio Free Grenada, Grenada's, Point Salinas, Scholtes, Beirut, Grenada —, Persian, Johns

☆ A US Reaper drone made its first-ever landing in the dirt, breaking away from the 'leash' of traditional runways
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US military recently landed a MQ-9 Reaper drone on a dirt strip for the first time. An Air Force official hailed the exercise as an opportunity to break away from traditional runways. A US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper conducts the first ever MQ-9 Reaper landing on a dirt landing zone during a training exercise near Fort Stockton, Texas, June 15, 2023. For the Air Force, that means learning how to fight from austere locations that provide increased survivability and flexibility. In doing so, a travel pod was attached to the Reaper so it could resupply soldiers who were waiting at the dirt landing zone.

Persons: —, Brian Flanigan, Flanigan, Sgt, Cody H, Ramirez, David Payne , Organizations: An Air Force, Service, US Air Force, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, AFSOC, Special Operations Squadron, Commando, 2nd Special Operations Squadron, The Air Force Locations: Fort Stockton, Texas, Fort Stockton , Texas, Wyoming, Rawlins , Wyoming

☆ The US Air Force is finally retiring the aging A-10. Now it plans to get rid of some the specially trained airmen who guide the Warthog to its targets.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The US Air Force has begun retiring the A-10, an aircraft famed for its role in close air support. Indeed, the US Air Force is finally retiring the aging A-10 Warthog ground-attack aircraft, which a top official has said "doesn't scare" China. According to Pentagon's budget request for 2024, the Air Force is looking to cut its TACP force by more than 40% over the next three years. If the plan goes ahead, the Air Force TACP community will have a little over 2,100 positions for officers, enlisted troops, and civilian personnel in 2025, down from the 3,700 slots it has currently, a spokesman told Air Force Times. "I think the military is getting ready for a war where we won't have air dominance," a former Air Force Combat Controller told Insider.

Persons: —, Tyler, Mercedee Wilds, Ryan Conroy, Michael Holzworth, Col, Nathan Colunga, Colunga, Stavros Atlamazoglou Organizations: US Air Force, Tactical Air Control Party, Service, China, US Air National Guard, Staff, Tyler Woodward Tactical Air Control Party, US Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Air Force Times, Air, National Guard, Air Combat Command, Air Force Combat, Combat, Air Commando, 321st Special Tactics Squadron, Navy, Army Green Berets, Marine Raiders, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Force Special, Squadron, Tech, Warfare, Hellenic Army, 575th Marine Battalion, Army, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins, School, International Locations: China, Estonian, Kansas, Fort Irwin, California, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Estonia, Nevada, Johns

☆ The US Army's Green Berets have struggled to bring enough recruits into their elite ranks, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Steve Beynon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Army Special Forces has struggled to bring in new talent since before the pandemic, recruiting data shows. These elite troops, known as Green Berets, are the military's go-to force for guerrilla warfare. But the service's Special Forces has been struggling to bring in new talent since before the pandemic, recruiting data shows. It exceeded its goals that year with 1,358 new Special Forces contracts, but dropped again with 779 recruits in 2022. So far this year, 527 new applicants have signed on to try for the Green Berets.

Persons: —, Jon Braga, Military.com, we've, Braga, you'll, Camp, Katherine Kuzminski, Militarry.com, Z, Kuzminski, It's Organizations: Special Forces, Green Berets, Service, Army, Forces, Green Beret, Military.com, Green, U.S . Army, Operations Command, U.S . Army CH, Southern Strike, Center, New, New American Security, Special Forces Groups, 75th Ranger Regiment, Defense Department, Navy, National Guard Locations: America, Camp Shelby , Mississippi, Afghanistan, New American

☆ France's last surviving D-Day commando joins beach landing anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Gautier, 100, presented a student marine commando with his green beret at a passing out parade at Colleville-Montgomery, near where a 17-year-old Gautier had landed on Sword Beach in a hail of enemy fire. Gautier was one of 177 French green berets under the command of Captain Philippe Kieffer who took part in the Normandy landings. In 2019, Gautier recounted on the occasion of the 75th D-Day anniversary how French troops had been the first to wade chest-deep onto Sword Beach. "Your honour," Gautier recalled British Colonel Robert Dawson telling the French green berets. Reporting by Noemie Olive; Writing by Richard Lough, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Commando Kieffer Leon Gautier, Read, Leon Gautier, Emmanuel Macron, Gautier, Captain Philippe Kieffer, " Gautier, Robert Dawson, Noemie Olive, Richard Lough, Ed Osmond Organizations: Commando, Fusiliers, Tuesday, Thomson Locations: Normandy, MONTGOMERY, France, Gautier, Colleville, Montgomery, Nazi Germany

☆ NATO member Turkey to send troops to Kosovo amid unrest in the north
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, June 3 (Reuters) - Turkey plans to send commandos to Kosovo on Sunday and Monday in response to a NATO request to join the alliance's KFOR peacekeeping force following unrest in the north of the country, the Turkish defence ministry said. In a statement on Saturday, the ministry called for restraint and constructive dialogue to resolve a crisis that it said could harm regional security and stability. "Our assigned unit (a commando battalion) is planned to be deployed to ... Kosovo on June 4-5," the ministry said. In violence on Monday, 30 peacekeepers and 52 Serbs who protested against the installation of the mayors were injured. The violence prompted NATO to announce it would send additional troops on top of 700 already on their way to the Balkan country to boost its 4,000 strong mission.

Persons: Ezgi Erkoyun, Giles Elgood Organizations: NATO, alliance's KFOR, U.S, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Turkey, Kosovo, Turkish, ., Kosovo's, Pristina

☆ Russia's brash invasion plan for Ukraine wasted special-operations units on missions they weren't meant to do
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Russia's invasion also struggled because of flaws in its planning for the operation. "The lack of effective line infantry units caused Spetsnaz units to be deployed mostly as light infantry, which also led to a high level of casualties among these units. It details not only structural flaws but also the tactical misuse of Russian special forces during the invasion itself. When the airborne assault on Kyiv failed and the tank columns stalled, the special forces were left adrift. Russian commanders then sent Spetsnaz units in to operate like light infantry, which increased their casualties and left fewer Spetsnaz units available for their designated missions.

☆ Photos capture US special operators landing one of the Air Force's biggest planes on a Wyoming highway
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The event helped train the Air Force to use roads in case runways aren't an option. But that didn't stop the US Air Force from using the roads to land several aircraft — including one of its biggest planes. An MQ-9 Reaper with the 2nd Special Operations Squadron lands on Highway 287 during Exercise Agile Chariot near Rawlins, Wyoming, April 30, 2023. Air Force planes — including the MC-130J and Warthog — have landed on stretches of highway in recent years in places like Michigan, Latvia, and Sweden. And the Air Force Special Operations Command has even explored modifications to the MC-130J to allow it to land in water.

☆ Moscow's 'special' forces: An inside look at how Russia's famed Spetsnaz really operate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Mark Galeotti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Russia's Spetsnaz forces are often depicted as a kind of Russian super troops. Osprey PublishingMost countries' special forces emphasize physical fitness, determination and aggression. Special people, for special tasksMembers of the Russian military's 16th Separate Special Purpose Brigade during an exercise in 2018. Even so, being better than most of the Soviet army's miserable and recalcitrant conscript forces did not make most of them truly special, special forces. The special operations commandMembers of Russian's 22nd Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade during an exercise in November 2017.

☆ Russia's prized Spetsnaz commando units have suffered a 95% casualty rate in Ukraine, leaked documents and photos show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's elite Spetsnaz commando units have suffered enormous casualties in Ukraine. Leaked US documents show that some units have suffered 95% casualties. Russia may take decades to rebuild the units, according to US estimates. The Department of Defense documents attribute the heavy losses to the reliance of Russian military commanders on the elite units for front-line combat. The Spetsnaz units are usually deployed in covert missons, such as operations behind enemy lines and for guiding missile strikes on sensitive targets.

In South Africa, a social media influencer who added “Vladimir” to his Twitter name to convey his reverence for the Russian president transmits Russian-generated content over Twitter and Telegram to a growing audience that now numbers 148,000 followers. On Afrique Média, a television channel based in Cameroon that reaches millions of people in Africa and recently signed a partnership with RT, the state-funded Russian television network, pundits regularly praise Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with one recently declaring, “Glory to Putin.”An animated video circulating online shows a brave Russian commando from the Wagner group, which is fighting for Russia in Ukraine, joining West African soldiers to defeat a horde of invading zombies from France. Over the past year, a flood of pro-Russian content has increasingly been surfacing on news outlets and social media platforms in Africa. The messages aim to drum up support for the invasion of Ukraine, and to frame Russia’s growing presence on the African continent as beneficial, while vilifying American and European — especially French — involvement in Africa.

☆ Two Israels face off as justice overhaul deepens the divide
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

For them, weakening the Supreme Court would undermine the bedrock of Israel's democracy and could set the country on the path to becoming a corrupt and religiously coercive state. In 2020, the Supreme Court struck down a law that had retroactively legalised homes built by settlers on land owned by Palestinians, like Amona. Settlers driven by ideology see themselves as pioneers redeeming land that was promised by God and many feel betrayed by Supreme Court rulings against settlements. The Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment. "The Supreme Court has challenged parliament time and again, playing politics, not nicely."

☆ Dozens of Israeli reserve pilots ditch drill to protest judicial overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - Dozens of Israeli air force reservists said on Sunday they would not turn up for a training day in protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reforms, a jolt for a country whose melting-pot military is meant to be apolitical. As Israel's strategic arm, the air force has traditionally relied on reservists in wartime and requires crews who have been discharged to train regularly in order to maintain readiness. The 37 air force reservists said they would suspend their one-day protest if required to carry out actual operations. Israel does not publish military personnel figures, making it hard to judge to impact of the air force reservists' protest, or of similar pledges by some reservists from other branches. "These irresponsible Israeli media are playing up any reservist who makes some kind of statement," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Channel 12 TV.

Search resuls for: "commando"

25 mentions found