Headlines 07 Jan 24

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January 07, 2024

MAJOR ATTACKS ON US BASE AND EMBASSY IN SYRIA AND IRAQ (Hal Turner)

The United States Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq is presently under armed attack.   LARGE explosions have rocked the Embassy area, perhaps even inside the Embassy compound itself . . . .

There have also been simultaneous attack against US bases in Syria and against the US Embassy in Syria.  Three attacks in Syria, two on the US base at Alshadadi and one on the US Base at al Tanf.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed Responsibility tonight for a Two-Pronged Attack using “Suicide” Drones against 2 U.S. Bases in Syria, with Drones having Targeted the Al-Tanf Operations Base in Southern Syria near the Border with Iraq and Jordan as well as the Al-Shaddadi Base in Eastern Syria.

Developing.

 

Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel in ‘initial response’ to killing of top leader from allied Hamas (AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel on Saturday, warning that the barrage was its initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Lebanon’s capital earlier this week.

The rocket attack came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his group must retaliate for the killing of Saleh Arouri, the deputy political leader of the militia’s ally Hamas, in a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut. He said if Hezbollah did not strike back, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack. He appeared to be making his case for a response to the Lebanese public, even at the risk of escalating the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on.

 

Israel, Hezbollah trade fire across Lebanon border amid alarm over Gaza war spillover (Reuters)

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT/ISTANBUL, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group said on Saturday it had fired rockets at Israel, and its arch-foe said it had struck a "terrorist cell" in retaliation, as top U.S. and EU diplomats visited the region to seek ways to halt spillover from the war.

Fighting also raged on inside Gaza, especially in and near the southern city of Khan Younis, where the Israeli military said it had killed three members of the militant Palestinian Hamas group that rules the densely populated coastal strip.

 

As Pressure Mounts, Israeli Minister Proposes Plan for Postwar Gaza (Yahoo-NYT)

TEL AVIV, Israel — As Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the Middle East on Friday in an effort to ease escalating tensions, Israel’s defense minister floated a postwar plan for the Gaza Strip that exposed divisions in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime government.

The proposal by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is a moderate member of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, was widely seen as a trial balloon, but it showed the pressure Israel was facing as the United States and others press for a shift to a less intense phase of the war.

 

Israel war on Gaza live: Children dying ‘in every possible way’ (Aljazeera)

  • On average, the number of children being killed every day in the enclave ‘is well over 100’, a Doctors Without Borders doctor warns.

  • At least 22 Palestinians killed after Israeli attacks targeted a house in Khan Younis overnight.

  • Israeli forces raiding locations across the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem with reports of fierce Palestinian resistance.

  • At least 22,722 people killed and 58,166 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack on Israel stands at 1,139.

 

US diplomat Blinken meets Turkey’s Erdogan, kicking off Gaza diplomacy tour (Aljazeera)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met senior Turkish officials in Istanbul, kicking off a week-long trip across the Middle East aimed at calming tensions that have spiked since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October.

In his meeting with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Blinken “emphasised the need to prevent the conflict from spreading, secure the release of hostages, expand humanitarian assistance and reduce civilian casualties,” US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Saturday.

 

Russian missile attack kills 11 in Pokrovsk in Ukraine's east: Donetsk regional governor (Reuters)

Jan 6 (Reuters) - A Russian missile strike killed 11 people on Saturday in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk region said.

"Eleven dead, including five children - these are the consequences for now of strikes on Pokrovsk district," Vadym Filashkin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Pictures posted online by the governor showed rescue squads sifting through large piles of smouldering rubble in the dark as well as a burned-out vehicle.

 

Alaska Airlines grounds 737-9 aircraft after midair window blowout on flight from Portland, Oregon (AP)

Alaska Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 aircraft late Friday, hours after a window and piece of fuselage on one such plane blew out in midair and forced an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon. No one was seriously hurt.

The incident occurred shortly after takeoff and the gaping hole caused the cabin to depressurize. Flight data showed the plane climbed to 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) before returning to Portland International Airport. The airline said the plane landed safely with 174 passengers and six crew members.

 

Defense Secretary Austin has been hospitalized since Jan. 1, but the Pentagon kept the news quiet (AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday due to complications following a minor elective medical procedure, his press secretary said, in the Defense Department’s first acknowledgement that Austin had been admitted five days earlier to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Friday that it was not clear when Austin would be released from the hospital, but said the secretary was “recovering well.”

 

The Supreme Court will decide if Donald Trump can be kept off 2024 presidential ballots (AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be kept off the ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, inserting the court squarely in the 2024 presidential campaign.

The justices acknowledged the need to reach a decision quickly, as voters will soon begin casting presidential primary ballots across the country. The court agreed to take up Trump’s appeal of a case from Colorado stemming from his role in the events that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

 

Pentagon: ‘No Indications’ Houthis Will Stop Attacking (Breitbart)

On Friday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “Morning in America,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder stated that the U.S. has started Operation Prosperity Guardian to try to stop Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, but “We have no indications right now that the Houthis are going to cease these attacks.”

 

Merchant vessel approached by six craft near Yemen, says UK (Reuters)

CAIRO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Six small craft approached a merchant vessel about 50 nautical miles from the Yemeni city of Mocha on Saturday before leaving the area, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization said.

"The vessel and crew were reported safe," UKMTO added in an advisory note on the incident.

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militants have stepped up attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in protest against Israel's war in Gaza. Various shipping lines have suspended operations, instead taking the longer journey around Africa.

 

Iran Guards commander challenges 'enemy' naval presence in region (Yahoo-Reuters)

(Reuters) - The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vowed on Saturday to reach "the enemy" far and near as tensions soar on key shipping routes where Tehran’s allies have been attacking vessels.

"Today, we are facing an all-out battle with the enemy," said Guards commander Hossein Salami at a ceremony in the southern Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, where the Guards' navy unveiled a new ship named "Abu Mahdi" and 100 missile launchers.

Salami did not name the enemy, but 22 nations have agreed to participate in a U.S.-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement.

 

War, weather put ocean shippers on notice for rough seas in 2024 (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Recent hostilities in the Red Sea have thrown global shippers of vital goods for a loop - but it is hardly the only issue that big carriers are facing as 2024 kicks off.

Giants like Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) say the industry, which handles 90% of global trade, faces the possibility of significant disruptions, from ongoing wars to droughts affecting key routes like the Panama Canal. Complex vessel schedules are likely to be knocked out of sync for giant container ships, fuel tankers and other commodity haulers throughout the year.

 

‘Derisking’ China-Reliant Supply Chains Is Creating New Risks (WSJ)

“Derisking” the West’s ties with China—shorthand for measures like tariffs to build up supply chains in friendly nations—has a nice ring to it. After all, who could argue against reducing risks?

Sometimes, however, the way economic concepts are framed can be misleading. New research is shedding light on how “derisking” is actually playing out. The preliminary conclusions are concerning: Much of the resiliency that supply-chain measures are designed to create may be illusory. Moreover, more-complicated global supply chains are creating new risks, which policymakers might not fully appreciate.

 

Is DeSantis going to drop out of the race on Jan. 15? (The Hill)

I have heard from two people very familiar with the DeSantis campaign — a major donor and a high-level political operative — that if the Florida governor loses the Iowa caucuses to former President Donald Trump as expected on the night of Jan. 15, he will either drop out of the race that night or make his announcement the next morning.

 

The US and China win no matter who takes Taiwan’s helm (The Hill)

As the Taiwanese presidential election draws near, speculation is rife with discussions on how the results will influence the delicate trilateral relationship between Taiwan, the United States and China. 

Often characterized as a proxy war between the superpowers, the reality of the situation is far more nuanced and indicative of a complex geopolitical chess game where, surprisingly, both the U.S. and China stand to gain regardless of the election’s outcome.

 

FDA says applesauce pouches recalled for lead also contained chromium (The Hill)

The Food and Drug Administration warned Friday that applesauce pouches previously recalled for containing lead may also contain chromium, increasing the risks of illness after ingestion.

The applesauce was initially recalled Nov. 13, with the Centers for Disease Control saying impacted pouches could contain lead.

 

Black Chicagoans Vowing to ‘Make Chicago Red’ as Migrant Crisis Roils Windy City (Breitbart)

Black Chicagoans are increasing their calls to “turn Chicago red” in the coming elections in response to the growing border crisis that has flooded their neighborhoods with illegal aliens at the behest of “welcoming” Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Windy City residents Cata Truss and Mark Carter appeared on Fox & Friends First on Jan. 5 with the vow to vote for Republicans in 2024 after the massive failure of Mayor Johnson and the Chicago City Council to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants.

 

"It's A False, False, False, False, False Flag World": Luongo On Where Do We Go From Here In 2024, Part 1 (ZeroHedge)

Last year I finally gave in to the pressure and did a 10 Predictions for 2023 post. I’m not a huge fan of these things, but getting out of your comfort zone is never a bad thing. So, let’s look at the scorecard and update things.

 

Why a Shadowy Tech Firm With Ties to Israeli Intelligence Is Running Doomsday Election Simulations (UnlimitedHangout)

A shadowy tech firm with deep ties to Israeli intelligence and newly inked contracts to protect Pentagon computers is partnering with Lockheed Martin to gain unprecedented access to the heart of America’s democracy.

As CBDCs Roll-Out, Elite-Backed Digital Payment Systems Vie to Build the “Global Payment Standard” (UnlimitedHangout)

As Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilots proliferate, a myriad of elite-gilded and blockchain-powered digital payment networks are vying for their technologies and payment systems to be incorporated in the developing digital currency infrastructures of tomorrow. Their end game? A digital financial grid prime for abuse.