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Israeli military announces daily ‘tactical pause’ in southern Gaza to allow in aid Eleven-hour window to allow in aid via Kerem Shalom crossing will take place every day until further notice, military says
The Israeli army has said it will observe a limited daily “tactical pause” along one of the main roads in the Gaza Strip to allow delivery of increased quantities of humanitarian aid, as UN agencies have suspended deliveries from a US-built pier.
The Israel Defense Forces, however, added that the pause should not be seen as a “cessation of hostilities in the southern Gaza Strip”.
The army later backed off its announcement after war cabinet was obviously unaware.
No one can trust Israelis not to use the aid drops as bait stations where they can target missiles or gunfire, but the starvation continues and assists the Israelis in these types of tactics.
Netanyahu and the IDF Top Brass Fight Over Gaza Cease-fire While Spiraling Towards Total War With Hezbollah The deaths of eight IDF soldiers on Saturday demonstrate the difficulty in facing Hamas' adaptive tactics, turning it into a loose organization of guerrilla forces ¦ Netanyahu continues to market the 'total victory,' once again delegating others to deliver the bad news
Army wants a temporary ceasefire, also IDF spokesperson General Daniel Hagari's statement that "Israel won't be able to recover the hostages through military means".
Military Draft Coming? House Passes Measure To Automatically Register Men For Selective ServiceThe House of Representatives on Friday approved its version of the annual defense policy bill, effectively clearing the $883.7 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to move forward in a 217-199 vote which largely fell along party lines. Only three Republicans opposed it.
A number of 'controversial' amendments are part of it, setting up a further fight with Democrats as it moves forward, including a measure empowering the National Guard to crack down on the southern border.
But among the most interesting aspects to the bill for Fiscal Year 2025 is an amendment to the NDAA which automatically registers all draft-age male U.S. residents with the Selective Service System.
[url=]File image via Fox News[/url]This means that all able-bodied males in the country age 18-26 could potentially be drafted in the scenario of a future war declaration by Congress. The selection would be based on information from Federal databases.
While there has been a Selective Service program in effect for decades, it has long previously only been voluntary, but this new amendment will make registration automatic. The merely 'voluntary' system had been in effect since 1980 - but critics have said that leaving it up for young men to decide for themselves whether to register has resulted in a weak and ineffective system with not enough numbers.
The automatic draft registration proposal was instigated by the Selective Service System (SSS) as part of its annual budget request to Congress, introduced by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), “wholeheartedly” endorsed by HASC Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), and approved by voice vote of the full committee without audible opposition. The text of Rep. Houlahan’s proposal can be read here. Her office’s press release on the proposal can be read here.
Rep. Houlahan had been one of the leading advocates of proposals in previous years to expand draft registration to women as well as men. Her latest proposal for automatic registration of men only for a military draft indicates that she is more deeply committed to militarization than to any purported feminism.
There's been a rising number of military papers and reports calling for the reinstatement of a more robust draft system of late, especially in relation to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
For example, last year the US Army War College’s academic journal included a highly disturbing essay on what lessons the US military should take away from the continuing war in Ukraine.
By far the most concerning and most relevant section of that War College essay for the average American citizen is a subsection entitled “Casualties, Replacements, and Reconstitutions” which directly states, “Large-scale combat operations troop requirements may well require a reconceptualization of the 1970s and 1980s volunteer force and a move toward partial conscription.”
Ukraine-Russia Peace Is as Elusive as Ever. But in 2022 They Were Talking. Representatives from the warring nations held peace talks in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. They fizzled. Documents from those talks show why any new ones will face major obstacles. By Anton Troianovski, Adam Entous and Michael Schwirtz June 15, 2024
Ukraine didn't reject Russian sovereignty over the Donbass. It rejected changing its constitution to allow the oblasts to hold referendums on their autonomy (not unlike what the US imposed in Iraq with Kurdistan). The key to Ukraine's rejection of the Minsk treaties is the refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Donbass partisans who comprise the other party to the agreement.
Russia isn't likely to achieve military control over those four regions till the end of 2025 according to Putin's update on the SMO.
🇷🇺🇺🇦‼️🚨 Previous peace deal: “Ukraine was allowed to join the EU”
The New York Times published the full draft peace agreement from April 2022.
Main points:
— Both sides agreed to exclude Crimea from their agreement, leaving it under the control of the Russian Federation, but… pic.twitter.com/s3EJBSqfOF
The war in Ukraine has Europe on edge, and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is proposing a new model of military service.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, talks to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius prior to the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
He wants compulsory screening of potential recruits to strengthen the army in a context of heightened risk.
Under the draft, presented by Boris Pistorius to the defense committee of the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament, young people who have reached the age of 18 will be required to answer a questionnaire on their willingness and ability to serve in the army.
Young women will also receive it, but without the obligation to complete it, sources said.
The idea of this screening is both to increase the possible interest of young people and, for the army, to select the most suitable or motivated ones for an interview. According to AFP information, the decision whether or not to perform military service will remain voluntary.
The model will involve basic training for six months, with the option of extending it to 17 months. The minister will present the new formula to the public on Wednesday afternoon on June 12. Young people who have completed their military service will join the reserves.
This plan is “exclusively about the ability to accelerate and strengthen the reserves for global defense,” said one participant at the parliamentary meeting. The long-term goal is to bring the Bundeswehr’s strength to 460,000 soldiers: about 200,000 permanently active in the army, the rest in reserve.
Despite a recruitment drive, the number of active military personnel in Germany fell to 181,500 last year. Boris Pistorius, now Germany’s most popular political figure, has for months been insisting on the need to make the army “war worthy” in order to defend the country and fulfill its role in NATO
After cutting its funding at the end of the Cold War, Germany has been investing heavily for two years to bring it back up to par, but the minister is calling for more resources. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, along with the Social Democrats (SPD) and Green majority allies in the governing coalition, are advocating for an all-volunteer army.
Intermediaries make crazy money selling weapons to Ukraine Oleksandr Petrov
The list of weapons received from representatives of Ukraine shows the authors of the material that the cost of many key types of weapons increased almost six times during the war.
In particular, at the beginning of the war, middlemen sold 122-mm Soviet Grad rockets for $900 per projectile, and now they are asking for $6,000, while Ukraine receives $4,700 of them.
Other ammunition, such as 152-mm shells for howitzers D20, long-range artillery, jumped from 1.2 thousand to 5.7 thousand dollars.
Donald Trump used to trash Ron DeSantis. Now, he copies him, Axios' Sophia Cai writes.
Why it matters: Since their bitter wrangling during the GOP primaries, Trump and the Florida governor have largely aligned on issues ranging from sex education to digital currency and property rights.
?? Trump last year revealed an education plan with a proposal for a "Parental Bill of Rights." It calls for more federal influence in how public schools are run, and for cutting funds to schools that teach "gender ideology."
Months earlier, DeSantis signed a "Parental Rights in Education" bill with provisions that banned talk about gender and sexuality in schools.
Today, "defund schools" is one of Trump's go-to phrases when he talks about his plans for a second term, an Axios analysisfound.
??Last year, Florida became the first stateto ban central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) when DeSantis signed legislation that revised the state's definition of money.
Months later, Trump pledged to prohibit the Federal Reserve from creating a CBDC. More recently he's made favorable comments about cryptocurrencies, which typically aren't regulated by a central bank.
??In March, DeSantis signed a bill revoking squatters' rights in Florida. Videos of squatters refusing to leave homes had become a staple of right-wing social media, often cast as examples of chaos in Democrat-run cities.
At a campaign rally five days after DeSantis signed the bill, Trump promised to do the same on the federal level.
?? Reality check: A notable exception is abortion.
DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban in Florida and supported a 15-week national ban.
Trump opposes a national ban and says regulating abortion should be left to the states rather than the federal government.
I’m worried about ‘accidental’ nuclear weapon launch: Ex-KGB spy Anna KutzJun 12, 2024 / 07:08 PM CDT
Russian warships are in Caribbean for routine military exercises
Former KGB spy concerned over possibility of 'accidental launch'
US government unphased by fleet just 90 miles off coast
( NewsNation) — Russia sent three warships and a nuclear submarine to Cuban waters Tuesday for routine military exercises, a show of strength that has some worried.
“Vladimir Putin is again up to his own tricks. He likes to scare people,“ former spy Jack Barsky said in an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill” Wednesday.
Barsky compared Russia’s presence in the Caribbean to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 when the fear of nuclear war paralyzed America for nearly two weeks.
“With this kind of tension that we have, there’s always the possibility of an accidental launch,” Barsky said. “I’m worried about that.”
Barsky was recruited by the KGB and sent to the United States, where he spent a decade spying for the Soviet Union.
He then left the KGB and lived in the U.S. for decades under an assumed identity before he was discovered by the FBI.
The author of “Deep Undercover: My Secret Life & Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America,” Barsky offers unique insight into Russia’s motivations in Cuba and elsewhere.
“You’ve got to be worried about this kind of stuff. You can’t look at this as just a routine exercise. It has to be seen against the background where Putin is stating that he’s actually fighting the West in the Ukraine,” Barsky said.
The Pentagon remains unconcerned with Russia’s deployments. The agency said the visit is part of routine naval activity and poses no threat to the United States.
“Everything that Putin does is sending messaging, particularly threatening ones,” Barsky said.
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark shared similar sentiments on NewsNation’s “The Hill” Tuesday, though he believes this visit to Cuba’s waters does not signal war.
“I don’t think it’s anything that will erupt in violence,” Clark said. “But does [Vladimir Putin] send a message to the United States and the world? Sure.”
What is a Liquidity Trap? Here's What You Should Know
Too much of a good thing can be dangerous, even in the stock markets. While markets often crave liquidity, especially in times of trouble, too much liquidity can create problems. A liquidity trap is a situation where the tools of central banks lose effectiveness as the money supply grows and demand fails to keep pace.A liquidity trap occurs under specific conditions, making it challenging for policymakers to revive the economy, especially when interest rates are already low. In this article, you will learn why liquidity traps form and how the government responds to them.
[/url]This means that all able-bodied males in the country age 18-26 could potentially be drafted in the scenario of a future war declaration by Congress. The selection would be based on information from Federal databases.
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