RFK Jr.’s Enhanced Security Was Funded With Money From Minority Health Office
What Happened: HHS took about $12 million from the Office of Minority Health to help pay for RFK Jr.’s security as his protection costs jumped from roughly $10 million to $17 million a year. HHS also canceled 16 grants for programs including maternal care, chronic disease screenings, and access to fresh food.
Why It Matters: Money meant to provide health care and services to low-income communities was used to help pay for Kennedy’s increasingly expensive security.
Russell Vought and His Budgeting Cronies Are Using This Sketchy Loophole to Control Government Spending
Why the hell are Republican senators letting it happen?By Charles P. PiercePublished: Oct 02, 2026 5:00 PM EDT
Senator Ron (Shreds of Freedom) Johnson has been eclipsed on the calendar of Republican senatorial foolishness by the likes of Tommy Tuberville and, most recently, Eric Schmitt. But there’s life in the old fella yet. He personally intervened to allow the odious Office of Management and Budget to use a strategy of dubious legality to impound nearly a billion dollars in appropriations that already had been passed by the Congress. Emine Yücel has been bulldogging these shenanigans for Talking Points Memo.
A congressional watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), published a post Wednesday morning reaffirming that “pocket rescissions”—a supposed loophole that the Trump White House thinks it can use to seize Congress’ power of the purse—are illegal.
“A pocket rescission is illegal as we explained in our most recent decision on pocket rescissions,” GAO wrote in its WatchBlog, referring to a 2018 report the agency put out that states, “amounts proposed for rescission must be made available for prudent obligation before the amounts expire, even where the 45-day period for congressional consideration provided in the ICA approaches or spans the date on which funds would expire.”
[OMB head Russell] Vought and his allies believe they have found a loophole in the budgeting process that, they claim, allows them to declare congressionally approved funding rescinded if a rescissions package is sent to Congress close to the end of the fiscal year when funds will expire. Normally, a formal rescissions request starts a 45-day clock in which the executive branch is allowed to withhold the cash in question that it is asking to claw back. But if the request comes in 45 days before the new fiscal year is set to begin on October 1, Vought contends, the White House could withhold the money for that timeframe, regardless of whether Congress takes action on the package, and then claim that the funding is expired when the fiscal year ends.
Vought is trying this Mickey Mouse finagling again. Last week, Senate Democrats tried to force a vote on a bill that would block these so-called pocket rescissions now and in the future. On Wednesday night, however, Johnson rose up and objected to the bill, effectively killing it.
So, around 7 p.m., we got our answer: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) objected to the bill. He did not directly address the way in which Vought’s maneuvering has run roughshod over one of Congress’ most important duties: dictating federal spending. He shrugged that all government spending should be reduced, and then said the law around impoundments was vague. “It’ll probably have to be all sorted out by the Supreme Court,” he said. That much is right, and the Court has already shown an openness to what Vought is trying to do.
President Donald Trump personally ordered OBM director Russell Vought to find taxpayer money for TV ads promoting his presidency, triggering a $20 million government contract funded through Customs and Border Protection (CBP), according to a new report.
The New York Timesreported Friday that Trump instructed Vought, who runs the Office of Budget Management, to come up with the money from inside the federal government after expressing enthusiasm for ads about himself and his administration.
The money, according to the Times, was ultimately drawn from funds available to CBP and shifted on September 19 into a Department of Homeland Security budget category for “commemorative events.” One day later, CBP awarded a $20 million “national media campaign” contract to Maryland marketing firm LMD.
The Times, citing 12 people familiar with the process, reported that Trump had been eager to get the promotional spots on television and personally approached Vought about financing them. White House Counsel Will Scharf and OMB counsel Mark Paoletta concluded that DHS money could legally be used, according to the report.
The $170 billion price tag for immigration enforcement eclipses other law enforcement expenditures at the federal, state, and local level. It is more than the annual expenditures on police by state and local governments in all 50 states and the District of Columbia combined.
Even the slice that goes just to ICE this year – nearly $29 billion – exceeds the budgets for all other non-immigration federal law enforcement functions put together, eclipsing funding to agencies whose law enforcement missions involve pursuing terrorists, violent criminals, sex offenders, fentanyl and other drug traffickers, and gun traffickers.
In the October 27, 2025, issue of The New Yorker, Andy Kroll wrote a long profile of Russell Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. I read it then and wondered why we heard so little about a man with so much power over the money Congress appropriates.
Nearly a year later, I had the same question: What has he done lately?
On September 25, the White House sent Congress a request to cancel roughly $810 million that Congress had already appropriated for health, education, housing, and other programs. Most of it—$567 million—comes from funds for services to refugees, asylum seekers, and other noncitizens. The request arrived only days before the September 30 end of the fiscal year.
This is what is called a pocket rescission.
Ordinarily, a president can ask Congress to cancel previously approved funding, and Congress has time to decide. By making the request just before the money expires, the administration seeks to keep the money from being used even if Congress never agrees to cancel it. The White House says the spending should end. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office put it plainly in its explanation of the tactic: “Unlike pocket vetoes, pocket rescissions aren’t allowed.” They are illegal. On September 29, GAO told lawmakers and Vice President Vance that the administration cannot lawfully withhold these funds past the September 30 expiration date. That is GAO’s legal conclusion; a court has not ruled on this particular $810 million request. In a similar foreign-aid dispute last year, the Supreme Court temporarily paused an order requiring funds to be committed before they expired. The Court expressly said its decision was not a final ruling on the merits; that case also involved foreign affairs, unlike the domestic programs targeted now.
Republican Senator Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, objected, saying OMB cannot decide for itself which programs are worth funding. Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Representative Brendan Boyle condemned the move as well. Their objections are about more than any one program: Who gets the final say when Congress has passed a spending law?
Trump $5000 Dividend Check: President Donald Trump stood before a roaring crowd at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Wednesday night, September 9, 2026, and made a promise that instantly became the biggest political story of the week: a $5,000 dividend check for every adult American citizen. The announcement came during the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention, and Trump tied the payout directly to the outcome of the November midterm elections. “If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them,” he told the crowd, “I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.” He compared the idea to a company handing out cash distributions to its shareholders, framing ordinary Americans as stakeholders in the nation’s economic performance. We’ll be updating this article monthly as new details, legislation, or official guidance emerge.
Within hours, the Trump dividend pledge had triggered a wave of fact-checking, cost estimates, and political pushback. Independent analysts quickly pegged the price tag of the proposal at somewhere between $1.2 trillion and $1.35 trillion, based on Census Bureau estimates of roughly 240 to 270 million adult U.S. citizens. That figure alone makes this one of the largest single cash-payment proposals ever floated by a sitting U.S. president, dwarfing even the COVID-era stimulus checks sent out under both the Trump and Biden administrations in 2020 and 2021. Yet, as of this writing, there is no legislation, no funding mechanism, no confirmed eligibility criteria, and no payment date. What exists is a campaign-style pledge made from a convention stage, and this article breaks down everything currently known, everything that remains unconfirmed, and what would have to happen before a single check goes out.
Trump appears to mix up Brazil’s presidential election with India’s as he calls US voting ‘corrupt’
Story by Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff
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Topline
President Donald Trump appeared to mix up India and Brazil in a late Sunday night Truth Social post about the latter’s presidential election results—where Trump’s ally Flávio Bolsonaro advanced to a runoff—where he once again attacked the U.S. voting and counting process as “corrupt,” without citing any evidence.
Simon Andriesz, a former banker who told the FBI in 2020 and 2021 about allegations concerning Howard Lutnick’s links to Jeffrey Epstein and his former employer BGC, has died by suicide, according to The Banker. The publication reported his death, aged 57, on 2 October 2026.
Andy Agathangelou, founder of Transparency Task Force, confirmed Andriesz’s death but did not state a cause in the announcement quoted by the publication. The reporting reviewed for this article does not cite an official finding on the cause of death or evidence linking it to Lutnick, Epstein, BGC or Andriesz’s disclosures.
In the dark world surrounding child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a string of mysterious deaths preceded his own. Long before the disgraced American financier was found hanging in New York jail cell in August 2019, several people linked to him — from his former employees and alleged allies to potential witnesses and investigators—met sudden, and in some cases unexplained ends. Each case, though officially unrelated, seemed to hint at the same mysterious and murky network of money, power, and silence that defined Jeffery Epstein’s empire. This timeline retraces those deaths, the circumstances surrounding them, and how they were tied—directly or indirectly—to Jeffrey Epstein’s world of influence before his own death on August 10, 2019.
Alfredo Rodriguez (2014)
Marvin Minsky (2016)
Leigh Skye Patrick (2017)
Joe Recarey (2018)
Michael Jackson (2009)
While most of these deaths were ruled natural or accidental, their timing and proximity to Jeffrey Epstein’s network have continued to fuel public suspicion and conspiracy theories. Epstein’s world of power and influence — stretching across politics, finance, and celebrity circles — has remained under scrutiny even after his own death in 2019. Notably, the later deaths of key figures, including key accuser Virginia Giuffre, have been linked by some observers to the broader political establishment. The name of US President Donald Trump has also surfaced in Epstein-related files, keeping the scandal alive in public debate.
………
From 2019 onward, a string of mysterious deaths has surrounded figures once tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s circle — from associates and aides to accusers. French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel and banker Thomas Bowers were both found dead by hanging, while Epstein’s ex-cellmate Efrain Reyes and former UN ambassador Bill Richardson died of illness. Hollywood producer Steven Bing and Epstein’s mentor Steven Hoffenberg also met grim ends. Most recently, Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre’s suicide in 2025 reignited debate over the enduring reach of his powerful network and the unanswered questions left in the wake of his 2019 death.
The Death of Virginia Guiffre
A prominent Epstein accuser, Giuffre died by suicide on April 25, 2025, at her farm in Neergabby, Western Australia, at age 41. Her family confirmed the cause in a statement, noting the heavy toll of her lifelong trauma, and Western Australia police investigated but ruled it non-suspicious, with no foul play indicated. Giuffre had indeed expressed safety fears in a 2019 court filing amid Epstein-related threats, stating she worried about retaliation from powerful figures.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, center, who says she was trafficked by sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, holds a news conference outside a Manhattan court where sexual assault claimants invited by a judge addressed a hearing following Epstein’s jailhouse death in New York, Aug. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir revisits her story with harrowing new detail about the abuse she endured. The book “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” recounts her experiences with Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and includes further allegations against Prince Andrew — which he continues to deny.
It’s been a bit more than a month since Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian who had come to the United States legally as a high schooler in 2024, threw himself under a truck on the interstate—a death of despair following the revocation of his legal status by the Trump administration this summer. Among the hundreds gathered to mourn Saturday at Springfield’s St. John Missionary Baptist Church, the grief was still raw and immediate.
The banners on the church walls proclaimed messages of scriptural comfort: “Jehovah Shammah: The Lord is always present. Jehovah Rophe: The Lord heals.” As family members audibly wailed and sobbed, the ministers asked God in English and Haitian Creole for consolation amid heartbreak.
“You are near the brokenhearted. We pray that you would draw near us today,” prayed Pastor Ernie Brown of St. John. “When questions have no answers, give them strength to trust you with what we cannot understand.”
Many unanswerable questions hung over Bel’s funeral. Here are two. How could a country extend such a shining future to a young man like him—only to shatter that future, and him, by suddenly ripping it away? And how could the president who made it happen show his face that same day, just miles down the road, not only to defend that change, but to bask in it?
From Bill Kristol & Andrew Eggar, Substack
SPRINGFIELD, OH – If there was one thing to know about Pierre Damas Bel, it was that he loved his community.
It was the resounding agreement of everyone who spoke, affirmed with nods and “amens” from attendees at the 20-year-old Haitian immigrant’s funeral on Oct. 3 at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield.
“He was my everything,” Bel’s father, Pierre Ronal Bel, wrote in a statement read aloud at the funeral.
Bel’s casket, adorned in colorful flowers, lay before well over 100 family members, friends, coworkers and even strangers grieving the loss of someone they repeatedly called a generous, intelligent young man with a “profound capacity to love” and who never tired of helping others. Bel was an honors student who loved soccer, wanted to become a neurosurgeon and dreamed of building a hospital in his homeland one day.
Flowers placed on top of the casket during the funeral service for Pierre Damas Bel at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church on Oct. 3, 2026
Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch
On Aug. 31, Bel was hit by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 east of Springfield, where he and over 10,000 other Haitians reside, after leaving his vehicle on the side of the road, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol.
While the official cause of death has not been confirmed by a coroner, Bel’s loved ones are certain he died by suicide, brought on by being bullied for wearing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ankle monitor following the revocation of Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants.
“Our dear friend and brother may have died by suicide, but he was killed by the system,” Guerline Jozef, co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said at Bel’s funeral service.
Loss of protected status left Bel, Ohio Haitians in despair, confusion
UN says at least 5,700 killed, wounded in Haiti gang crisis this year
Story by AFP
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UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the Gang Suppression Force remains well below its target strength, with only about 1,500 of a planned 5,500 personnel deployed. (EPA Images pic)
GENEVA: Haiti’s gang violence crisis has left at least 5,700 people dead or wounded this year while more than 1,000 women and girls have been raped, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Friday.
2,500 American troops leave Iraq after 12-year ISIS mission
Iraq enters post-US military era as militias, foreign forces and security challenges take center stage in Baghdad
September 30, 2026
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The withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 US troops marks the end of Operation Inherent Resolve, but Iraq continues to face questions over armed groups, foreign forces and security in the Kurdistan Region.
Despite the military withdrawal, US-Iraq relations are not ending. Analysts say the relationship is expected to increasingly focus on economic and commercial cooperation, alongside continued defense ties, as Baghdad seeks to consolidate its sovereignty while maintaining its partnership with Washington.
Iraq is set to enter a new phase after the United States completes the withdrawal of its remaining 2,500 troops on September 30, ending the 12-year US-led Operation Inherent Resolve mission against ISIS and more than two decades of US military involvement in the country.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has described October 1 as a new era of Iraqi sovereignty, with Baghdad planning four public holidays to mark what it calls “Independence Day.” The withdrawal follows a 2024 agreement between Baghdad and Washington. However, the departure of US forces does not mean Iraq will be free of foreign military deployments. Turkey still maintains troops in northern Iraq, although Ankara has said it will gradually hand over a military base to Baghdad, dw.com reports.
As Egypt is threatened with losing its vital water supply, the building of dams in the region highlights the fragility of water supply in North Africa.
History:
In 1843 it was decided to build a series of diversion dams (barrages or weirs) across the Nile at the head of the delta about 12 miles downstream from Cairo, so as to raise the level of water upstream to supply the irrigation canals and to regulate navigation. This delta barrage scheme was not fully completed until 1861, after which it was extended and improved; it may be regarded as marking the beginning of modern irrigation in the Nile valley. The Zifta Barrage, nearly halfway along the Damietta branch of the deltaic Nile, was added to this system in 1901. In 1902 the Asyūṭ Barrage, more than 200 miles upstream from Cairo, was completed. This was followed in 1909 by the barrage at Isnā (Esna), about 160 miles above Asyūṭ, and in 1930 by the barrage at Najʿ Hammādī, 150 miles above Asyūṭ.
The first dam at Aswān was constructed between 1899 and 1902; it has a series of four locks to allow navigation. The dam has twice been enlarged—first between 1908 and 1911 and again between 1929 and 1934—thus raising the water level and increasing the dam’s capacity. It is also equipped with a hydroelectric plant with an installed power of more than 345 megawatts.
Brittanica
On July 21, 1970, Egyptian engineers completed the Aswan Dam, which controls the flow of the Nile River.
Egypt and Ethiopia have expelled diplomats from each other’s countries in a sharp escalation of tensions already fuelled by the long-running dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Egypt and Ethiopia have turned a long-running dispute over the Nile into a fresh diplomatic confrontation, expelling each other’s diplomats and giving them just 48 hours to leave. The escalation began in Addis Ababa, where Ethiopia declared Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Soliman persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours. Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said the decision was taken under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations but did not publicly explain what prompted it.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile river in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia. Egypt wants the United Nations Security Council to “undertake its responsibilities” and prevent Ethiopia from starting to fill its massive, newly built hydroelectric dam on the Nile River.
Images of Ayman al-Zawahiri and al-Qaeda loyalist Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi appeared in videos on accounts linked to the Flydubai co-pilot.
Al-Qaeda images appeared in videos on social media accounts linked to Flydubai suspect Hamam al-Hammami. Photo: X
Images of former al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and al-Qaeda loyalist Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi appeared in videos on social media accounts linked to Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, CNN reported, as authorities investigate his background and possible extremist connections.
The material included cockpit footage showing Israeli aircraft and photographs of al-Zawahiri, who led al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden, and al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor loyal to the group who carried out a 2009 suicide bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan. Nine people were killed in that attack, including seven CIA officers and contractors.
Two posts appeared in quick succession on a LinkedIn profile bearing al-Hammami’s name, about nine hours after the September 30 Flydubai incident. But CNN reported that it was unclear who had published the posts or whether they had been scheduled in advance. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN that the LinkedIn profile belonged to al-Hammami.
Al-Qaeda Figures Appeared In Cockpit Video
The first LinkedIn post contained several clips filmed inside the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft. CNN said it geolocated one clip to Dubai International Airport, where an aircraft belonging to Israeli airline El Al was visible.
War isn’t over: Al-Qaeda calls for copycat attacks on US, Israeli planes after Flydubai plot
Story by Edited by Priyanshu Priya
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Israeli airline El Al aircraft sit on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport near the city of Lod on October 2, 2026.
Al Qaeda has reportedly called for copycat attacks targeting Americans and Israeli airliners, invoking the September 11 attacks while praising the alleged hijacker of a Dubai-bound flydubai flight over “crash attempt”.
A LinkedIn profile with al-Hammami’s name said that he worked at Oman Air for several years but left in February 2025.
The suspected terrorist who attempted to crash the Flydubai plane with over a hundred Israelis on board had terrorist immigrants on his social media and had been flagged for extremism concerns when he was flying for Oman Air, which removed him from his position.
The suspected terrorist co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, allegedly attacked a fellow pilot with an axe several times and then sent the plane into a nose dive in what has been referred to as a terrorist attack. The plane dropped several thousand feet within a minute before passengers were able to storm the cockpit, subdue al-Hammami, and take control of the airplane. The incident came a week before the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks.
Al-Qaeda began as a logistical network to support Muslims fighting against the Soviet Union during the Afghan War; members were recruited throughout the Islamic world. When the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the organization dispersed but continued to oppose what its leaders considered corrupt Islamic regimes and foreign (i.e., U.S.) presence in Islamic lands. Based in Sudan for a period in the early 1990s, the group eventually reestablished its headquarters in Afghanistan (c. 1996) under the patronage of the Taliban militia.
Peshawar school massacre A soldier surveying the damage to the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, following a deadly attack by Taliban gunmen, December 2014.
Pakistani Taliban, formally Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan or Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP), militant group that formed about 2007 to counter Pakistani government rule in Pashtun-inhabited regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan. Like the unaffiliated Afghan Taliban, with which it shares ethnic, cultural, and ideological ties, the Pakistani Taliban combines a traditional Pashtun social code (Pashtunwali) with the strict religious puritanism of the Deoband school of Islam. The group emerged during the Afghanistan War (2001–14) in response to Pakistan Army operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA; now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), a region where local tribes had previously enjoyed considerable autonomy. Those operations sought to secure the border region against militants fleeing Afghanistan. The TTP targets Pakistani security personnel and installations, typically in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with acts of terrorism. The group is notorious internationally for its 2012 assassination attempt against Malala Yousafzai, an activist against the group’s prohibition on girls’ education, and the Peshawar school massacre in 2014, in which it stormed an army-run school in Peshawar and killed 150 people.
Formation and leadership history
The TTP was created in late 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, a militant commander sympathetic to the Deoband school of Islam and whose Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan had been a dominant force among the region’s militant networks for several generations. Mehsud had been one of the major insurgents against the army in FATA and had previously concluded a short-lived ceasefire with the government in 2005. The formation of the TTP brought together militant groups from across FATA and parts of the North-West Frontier Province (the name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until 2010) under Mehsud’s command. Its founding objectives included resistance to NATO forces and the Pakistan Army, enforcement of a Deobandi interpretation of Islamic law, and the cessation of military activity in FATA and the Swat district of the North-West Frontier Province.
Mehsud was killed in 2009, and his successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, a fellow tribesman, was killed in 2013. The appointment of a commander outside the Mehsud tribe, Mullah Fazlullah, created discord within the TTP. Many disaffected members, inspired by the rapid expansion of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2014–15, pledged allegiance to ISIS and formed the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP or ISIS-K), a group dedicated to a transnational jihad and hostile toward the TTP and the Afghan Taliban. In 2018 Fazlullah was killed, and leadership was returned to the Mehsud tribe with the appointment of Noor Wali Mehsud as commander.Areas Of Involvement: IslamterrorismPashtun
Resurgence in the 2020s
Under Noor Wali Mehsud the TTP’s membership stabilized, and it became more closely aligned with the Afghan Taliban in both its structure and objectives, reportedly facilitating the flow of support between the organizations. After the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in the country, TTP activity in Pakistan saw a sharp resurgence, with the number of attacks reportedly increasing from fewer than 200 in 2021 to more than 600 in 2024. In January 2023, a suicide bombing on a police compound in Peshawar killed more than 80 people during Friday prayers, shaking public confidence in the ability of Pakistan’s security apparatus. The dramatic rise led Pakistan to blame the Afghan Taliban for allowing the TTP to operate in Afghanistan, an accusation the Afghan Taliban denies. In October 2025 the Pakistan Army, emboldened by a warming relationship with the United States and a new military pact with Saudi Arabia, launched an air strike on Kabul in an alleged attempt to target Noor Wali Mehsud. The attack prompted the ruling Afghan Taliban to retaliate against the strike on Afghanistan’s capital, leading to a direct confrontation between the Pakistan Army and the Afghan Taliban.
Israeli forces help settlers seize West Bank olive groves: witnesses
A Palestinian takes part in a community action to clear the area around the olive trees in preparation for the upcoming harvest season on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Birzeit. (File/AP)Short Url
Injuries were reported in several locations in the West Bank
RAMALLAH: Israeli soldiers on Saturday backed settlers who seized Palestinian olive groves at the start of the harvest season, with injuries reported in several places across the occupied West Bank, witnesses and medics said.
October is the traditional start of the harvest for Palestinians, many of whom regard olive trees as a cultural symbol.
This year’s season comes as violence soars, including near-daily attacks or thefts by settlers, who enjoy political support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government ahead of October 27 elections.
Near the village of Beita in the northern West Bank, Palestinians began the harvest in the morning when they were confronted by settlers, who briefly backed down when faced down by the farmers as well as visiting solidarity activists, some of them Israeli, witnesses said.
Soldiers then rushed in, sending the farmers and activists running out, and detained a number of the Palestinians, including one who could be heard screaming inside a military jeep, an AFP journalist witnessed.
The Israeli army detained six journalists including one from AFP. They were released after 20 minutes without charge.
“Today, as usual, we went to harvest olives on the land where we, our parents and our grandparents grew up and lived,” farmer Mohammed Hamayel told AFP.
The army’s aim was “clearing the area for the settlers so they can harvest the olives. This is our land and, God willing, we will remain steadfast,” he said.
AFP has contacted the Israeli military for comment.
Elsewhere in the northern West Bank, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at Palestinian farmers on the olive groves, setting the dry fields on fire, an AFP journalist witnessed. Farmers and firefighters rushed to put the fires out.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said 12 Palestinians were taken to hospital after being beaten by settlers in five separate incidents Saturday.
The violence came after settlers killed one Palestinian on Thursday and another on Friday, according to Palestinian officials.
The violence has caused mounting international concern, with Britain recently leading sanctions on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
Netanyahu has voiced anger over the criticism, blaming incidents on a small number of people that he called juvenile delinquents.
Violence has also affected Israelis, with a Palestinian shooting dead a settler in September.
A suspected plague outbreak has erupted in Russia — killing a young lab worker, forcing nearly 200 people into isolation and triggering accusations that Vladimir Putin’s regime is trying to keep the infection’s possible spread under wraps.
The alarm was raised in Siberia after a worker at an anti-plague laboratory died of the disease, which killed tens of millions in the medieval Black Death, according to a report fromThe Moscow Times.
Anna Popova, who heads Russia’s public-health watchdog, then rushed 2,600 miles from Moscow to the Irkutsk region as authorities quarantined a hospital and placed scores of people who had come into contact with the victim under medical observation.
Black Death Flagellants in the Netherlands scourging themselves in atonement, believing that the Black Death is a punishment from God for their sins, 1349.
A test tube holding live bacteria broke while a young assistant collected samples at the Irkutsk institute, reports say Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH
Over the course of the past year, we’ve documented plenty of Profiles in Courage who have bettered countless lives. These exemplary men and women have found cures to deadly diseases, helped Americans stay connected to internet services during a pandemic, and given back to the most vulnerable members of society. Yet this month’s Profile in Courage – Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman – may be the most courageous of all. On the fateful day of January 6, 2021, Officer Goodman diverted an angry mob of insurrectionists away from lawmakers, buying members of Congress precious time to escape to designated hiding locations. And, for protecting hundreds from an angry mob of lawbreakers, Goodman is truly a Profile in Courage.
Watching footage of Officer Goodman diverting the mob from Senate chambers, it’s clear that Goodman is an experienced officer capable of thinking on his feet in high pressure situations. This particular set of skills stems from Goodman’s four years as an infantryman in the army. According to Military.com, “He deployed to Iraq with 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), from 2005 to 2006. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal and Army Good Conduct Medal.” Whether in or out of the military, Goodman gained a reputation as someone ready to unflinchingly put their life on the line to protect others. After hearing about Goodman’s actions on January 6, a friend of his responded, “I’ve always said, if bullets start ripping through, I’m finding Goodman. He’s been in hostile firefights, so he knows how to keep his head.”
In chaotic situations such as the Capitol Riot, it is easy to be overwhelmed and take the path of least resistance from the perpetrators. Instead, Goodman strategically backed up as the “protestors” stormed the Capitol and started up a flight of stairs leading to Senate chambers. Knowing that the chambers lie to one side of the top of the stairs, he was determined to bait the mob to head in the other direction. To accomplish that aim, he gently pushed the man leading the mob. This move reflected restraint – designed to prevent loss of life and/or injury – and succeeded in getting the throng to pursue Goodman instead of heading toward the chambers. Shortly after Goodman lured the insurrectionists away from lawmakers, the Senate doors were sealed which gave lawmakers the opportunity to seek refuge. And, during this tense standoff, Goodman managed to stay in communication with fellow officers to describe the situation and obtain backup.
One can only imagine all the things that were going on in Officer Goodman’s mind as he engaged in the flight and fight of his life. In addition to trying to maintain balance between restraint, strategic movement, and constant communication, Goodman was grappling with a vicious bunch who brought racist flags and symbols with them. As New York Law School professor and former NYPD detective Kirk Burkhalter notes, it usually “doesn’t end up well for Black folks” when they’re being chased by angry White people carrying Confederate flags and donning Nazi shirts. Despite this terrifying context and sequence of events, Officer Goodman was able to keep composure and avert a substantial loss of life.
Fortunately, Goodman’s actions haven’t gone unnoticed. A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced a bill to award the officer a Congressional Gold Medal for his bravery and service to America. Plenty of media outlets have written about the man and his selfless quest. Goodman puts matters simply: “My job is to protect and serve. And on that day, I was protecting.” And for protecting scores of lawmakers and democracy itself during an exceptionally dark day in our history, Officer Eugene Goodman is undoubtably a Profile in Courage.
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