"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable." -- H.L. Mencken
Supertanker rates on the Baltic Exchange's benchmark Middle East-to-China shipping route have surged to a staggering $800,000 a day. With US forces having destroyed five Iranian-linked tankers and Tehran threatening further escalation in recent days, prospects for near-term stabilization remain limited.
The freight surge signals that crude oil and refined products continue to flow but are becoming increasingly costly to transport out of the Gulf region to global markets.
max blumenthal, thegrayzone.com
responsiblestatescraft.org
While it is somewhat cliche to say that the “whole world changed” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, it does not detract from the reality of the statement. In numerous tangible ways, the culture, security, and politics of the nation were never the same after al-Qaida hijackers in passenger planes left nearly 3,000 people dead in smoldering ruins across lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
by David Roza , thewarhorse.org
Dave DeCamp, antiwar.com
More than 100 US military advisers are in Saudi Arabia assisting Riyadh with intelligence and targeting support for its renewed war in Yemen, CNN reported on Thursday.
One of CNN’s sources, an unnamed US official, put the number of US troops assisting in the effort at 200 and said they were part of a new joint task force that was formed in recent weeks as the war in Yemen began to escalate.
by Norman Solomon, antiwar.com
jeremy sharon, timesofisrael.com
The Central District Court on Wednesday sentenced the Jewish extremist convicted of the October 2018 killing of Aisha Rabi, a 47-year-old Palestinian mother of nine, to 13 years in prison.
The individual, who cannot be named as he was a minor at the time of the incident, was also ordered to pay NIS 258,000 ($85,500) in compensation to Rabi ’s family, the maximum sum provided under the law.
by Dave De Camp, antiwar.com
Pakistan's defense minister also said that Ansar Allah's attacks on Saudi Arabia could activate the new Mecca defense pact
Pakistan is likely to carry out airstrikes against Yemen’s Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, at Saudi Arabia’s request, Türkiye Today reported on Wednesday, citing Pakistani sources.
haaretz.com - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday sent a warning letter ahead of a libel suit against Haaretz and journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval over a report he received a warning from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed about a major Hamas operation before the October 7 attack.
Haaretz said in response that it stands by its reporting.
In the pediatrics department at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, doctors are seeing a surge in stunted growth among children. This lasting mark of Israel's engineered famine may affect cognition, hormones, and health for generations to come.
By Tareq S. Hajjaj, mondoweiss.net