Important Takeaways:
- In a video message, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said, “In case an inclusive war is imposed on Lebanon, the resistance will fight without restraints, without rules, without limits.”
- The minute-long clip then shows footage of various sites in central Israel, along with their GPS coordinates.
- “Whoever thinks of war against us, will regret it,” the video ends.
- The White House official reportedly rejected Jerusalem’s demand that a diplomatic deal to end the conflict in the north be based on the implementation of U.N. Security Resolution 1701—which was adopted to end the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and calls for a demilitarized zone from the Blue Line to the Litani River some 18 miles to the north.
- Instead, he said it should include a range of options, including moving Hezbollah six miles from the border. He stressed that the United States was concerned about further escalation and called for calm on both sides.
- Iran-backed Hezbollah has attacked northern Israel nearly every day since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, killing more than 20 people and causing widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians remain internally displaced due to the ongoing violence.
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Important Takeaways:
- “We are prepared for a very intense operation in the north. One way or another, we will restore security to the north,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the border area.
- Almost eight months of exchanges between Israel and the Iran-backed movement, a Hamas ally, have intensified over the past week, with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory.
- Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have both called in recent days for urgent action to restore security to northern Israel.
- “They burn us here; all Hezbollah strongholds should also burn and be destroyed. WAR!” Ben Gvir said
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Important Takeaways:
- Dwindling number of D-Day veterans mark anniversary with plea to recall WWII lessons in today’s wars
- The war in Ukraine shadowed the ceremonies, a grim modern-day example of lives and cities that are again suffering through war in Europe.
- “There are things worth fighting for,” said Walter Stitt, who fought in tanks and turns 100 in July, as he visited Omaha Beach this week. “Although I wish there was another way to do it than to try to kill each other. We’ll learn one of these days, but I won’t be around for that.”
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presence at the D-Day commemorations with world leaders who are supporting Ukraine fused World War II’s awful past with the fraught present.
- Feted everywhere they go in wheelchairs and walking with canes, veterans are using their voices to repeat their message they hope will live eternal: Never forget.
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“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
Important Takeaways:
- During this week’s broadcast of FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) reacted to last week’s 34-count guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump.
- The Kentucky Republican said he had “bigger” concerns beyond Trump.
- “A sad day in America,” Paul said of the verdict. “And what I worry about is something even bigger than Donald Trump. I worry about strife. I worry about war in the streets. I worry about 50% of the public believing that the court system will be used against them. Once upon a time, it was because of the color of your skin, now because of the shade of your ideology. I worry about that and I worry, when half the country thinks they won’t be treated fairly, what happens and how people react.
- “If you look at records violations and you look at Hillary Clinton, $8 million expense, and they slapped her on the wrist because she got an $8,000 fine,” he continued. “And that’s actually probably appropriate, some kind of fine for mislabeling things. But there’s a real question whether it is mislabeled. Was it a legal expense? Sounds like it was a legal expense. All nondisclosure agreements, I believe, are legal expenses. I’m guessing there are hundreds of them in New York City as we speak. And my guess is, not one of them have ever been taken to court. I think Donald Trump is the only person ever prosecuted for this particular crime.”
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Important Takeaways:
- World War III Watch: Eastern Europe NATO Allies Readying to Foil Russian Hybrid Attacks
- Wars and rumors of wars are having an impact on military preparedness right across Eastern Europe. NATO member Poland on Monday became the latest state to announce a boost, presenting a plan to strengthen its anti-drone surveillance and on-ground military capabilities in the face of continued Russian threats.
- The effort follows Finland, Norway, and Baltic states drawing up similar proposals to deter Moscow’s aggression.
- AP reports a system of fortifications and barriers along about 430 miles of Poland’s eastern border with Russia and Russian ally Belarus are part of the planning.
- The government says Poland, which supports neighboring Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s aggression, is being targeted by hostile actions by Russia and Belarus.
- They include cyberattacks, attempted arson and migrants being pushed illegally across the border, which officials describe as intended to destabilize the European Union, of which Poland is a member, the AP report notes
- Meanwhile the Baltic states announced plans alongside Norway, Finland and Poland to construct a “drone wall” along their shared borders with Russia on Sunday, Newsweek reports.
- Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said the technology is capable of both detecting and repelling drones, adding his country plans to install the barrier along its entire eastern border as well as around its major cities.
- The announcement comes days after Russia said it plans to change its maritime borders in the Baltic Sea. Lithuania’s foreign minister responded last week, calling it an “obvious escalation” that must be met with an “appropriately firm response.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Roughly 100 pro-Israel vigilantes stormed the “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, sparking battles with activists.
- The raid occurred after nearly a week in which UCLA not only allowed the encampment to occupy the main plaza on campus, but also allowed pro-Palestinian activists to run their own security, barring access to students and the public.
- The Daily Bruin, the student newspaper, reported the clashes:
- Fireworks, tear gas and fights broke out just after 10:50 p.m. Tuesday night and continued early Wednesday morning as around 100 pro-Israel counter-protesters attempted to seize the barricade around and storm the ongoing Palestine solidarity encampment in Dickson Plaza.
- After the barricades came down, counter-protesters and protesters inside the encampment began to fight. Counter-protesters shot fireworks into the encampment just after 11 p.m., and irritant gasses were released from both sides. A Daily Bruin reporter was indirectly sprayed in the face.
- In another statement released at 3:30 a.m., protesters inside the encampment said the university has not done enough to protect students, and they repeated earlier calls for the university to meet their demands.
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Important Takeaways:
- As the war enters its 778th day, these are the main developments.
- Russian missiles and drones destroyed a large electricity plant near Kyiv and hit power facilities in several regions of Ukraine.
- In Ukraine, parliament passed a controversial new law on mobilization as it seeks to replenish the military’s ranks.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said that drone attacks on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine must stop because of the risk of opening “a new and gravely dangerous” stage in the war.
- Ukraine needs military aid and air defense systems in the face of Russia’s intensifying attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as he criticized his country’s allies for engaging in “lengthy discussions” and “turning a blind eye”.
- The president travelled to Lithuania to participate in a regional security summit, saying that “Russian evil is a threat not only to Ukraine but to every nation bordering Russia and to everyone who values international law”.
- Ukraine risks collapsing under Russia’s onslaught without US support, a disaster that could embolden China and prompt a new crisis in East Asia, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told US lawmakers during a state visit to Washington, DC, urging them to overcome “self-doubt” about the country’s role on the world stage.
- Ukraine and Latvia signed a 10-year security agreement envisaging annual Latvian military support for Ukraine at 0.25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Zelenskyy said. “Latvia also made a 10-year commitment to assist Ukraine with cyber defense, demining, and unmanned technologies, as well as support for Ukraine’s EU and NATO accession,” he wrote on X.
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Important Takeaways:
- Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not “rushing” up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
- “From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war.
- Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory – or to Ukraine – Russia would treat the move as an intervention.
- “(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” said Putin, the ultimate decision maker in the world’s biggest nuclear power.
- “Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”
- “Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin said. “We have our own principles.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Biden announces 500 sanctions against Russia as payback for war, Navalny
- Biden said the sanctions are payback for Mr. Navalny’s death in an Arctic prison and designed to coincide with the second anniversary of Mr. Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
- “These sanctions will target individuals connected to Navalny’s imprisonment as well as Russia’s financial sector, defense industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents,” Mr. Biden said. “They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home.”
- Biden also said he is imposing 100 export restrictions on entities that are providing “backdoor” support for Russia’s war effort.
- The U.S. and Western nations have imposed crippling sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine, only to see Moscow find end-runs around the restrictions or new global partners to keep its economy afloat.
- The president scolded the Republican-led House for failing to take up a Senate-passed supplemental bill that includes $60 billion in aid for Ukraine.
- The U.S. has provided more than $75 billion already. Some lawmakers say there is no clear plan for a Ukrainian victory so it doesn’t make sense to throw more American treasure at the effort or to help more Ukrainian soldiers to die in what is a never-ending stalemate.
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Important Takeaways:
- UN Report: Global hunger numbers rose to as many as 828 million in 2021
- According to a United Nations report that provides fresh evidence that the world is moving further away from its goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030.
- The numbers paint a grim picture:
- As many as 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021 – 46 million people more from a year earlier and 150 million more from 2019.
- Around 2.3 billion people in the world (29.3%) were moderately or severely food insecure in 2021 – 350 million more compared to before the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic. Nearly 924 million people (11.7% of the global population) faced food insecurity at severe levels, an increase of 207 million in two years.
- Looking forward, projections are that nearly 670 million people (8% of the world population) will still be facing hunger in 2030 – even if a global economic recovery is taken into consideration
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