Israel has ordered all residents of Gaza City to leave to make way for an expanded ground operation. Anyone who does not leave will be treated as a Hamas member or sympathizer.
And there is nowhere to go, no means of taking infirm people and those remaining have not been proven to be Hamas sympathisers – they are terrified and cannot escape.
Israel blocks main road to Gaza City, gives residents last chance to leave
Met Police calls for protest against Palestine Action ban to be cancelled after synagogue attack
5h
The Metropolitan Police has called for a planned protest in support of the banned Palestine Action group to be delayed or cancelled after Thursday’s synagogue attack in Manchester.
Police spent several hours trying to arrest all the peaceful protestors under the Terrorism Act. 5Pillars witnessed large groups of onlookers heckling police and chanting pro-Palestine chants.
Palestine Action protesters at Trafalgar Square, London, 04 October 2025. Credit: @bob_cart124 | 5Pillars
Many of the protesters were retirees but the protesters flouting the law also included Jews, Muslims, students, medics, disabled people and anti-war activists.
At the time of publishing this article, the Metropolitan Police claimed that 355 people have been arrested which included six people who were cuffed after a banner was unfurled on Westminster Bridge prior to the main demonstration at Trafalgar Square.
And
How the Manchester synagogue security response played out
Government emergency handbook sets out advice to keep civilian casualties at a minimum
A fast-moving anti-terror response played out for more than six minutes in Manchester on Thursday after a witness called in the car-ramming and stabbings at the Heaton Park mosque.
On Yom Kippur, when the Jewish community was gathered to observe together, the attacker appeared determined to break into the synagogue to cause mass casualties.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) will take “full control” of Gaza City “while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones”.
The plan marks a new escalation in the nearly two-year offensive that has seen tens of thousands of Palestinians killed or displaced, as those who remain are pushed further into a worsening famine.
British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has criticised Israel’s decision to “further escalate its offensive, adding: “This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed.”
Gaza latest: Trump tells Israel ‘stop bombing Gaza’ as Hamas agrees to release hostages
Donald Trump has told Israel to “stop bombing Gaza” after Hamas appeared to accept some key parts of the US president’s 20-point peace plan. Follow the latest.
……….
Trump tells Israel to stop bombing – but explosions seen on Gaza skyline overnight
Shortly after his address hailing this a “very special day”, Donald Trump took to social media to place demands on Israel.
Trump said he believed Hamas is “ready for lasting peace” and that “Israel must immediately stop the bombing” so the hostages can be released safely.
“Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought peace in the Middle East.”
Despite these calls, several explosions were seen in Gaza in the early hours of this morning.
Sky News
And the ‘day after’ Israeli plan?
A Sky News investigation has uncovered new details about Israel’s support for a Palestinian rebel group with extremist ties and a history of looting aid trucks.
As negotiators debate who will run Gaza after the war is over, Israel is already shaping a new reality on the ground.
In recent weeks, several tribal militias have declared allegiance to Yasser Abu Shabab, the head of a former looting gang which is positioning itself as Gaza’s future government.
……….
“Greetings to Abu Shabab from 585,” read one comment left by a soldier, alongside a hearts emoji.
Like the majority of soldiers in Unit 585, Sami is a Muslim bedouin. His family have served in the IDF for generations, and he says he is proud to serve Israel.
He is equally proud of the support that Israel is providing to Yasser Abu Shabab and his followers, who are also largely bedouins.
“Israel helps him, it gives him grenades, it gives him money, it gives him vehicles, it gives him food, it gives him all types of things,” he says.
,………..
Amjad Iraqi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, says that Israel’s use of the Popular Forces against Hamas mirrors the way in which it previously supported Hamas against its secular rival Fatah.
……….
Neve Gordon, Professor of International Law at Queen Mary’s, describes it as a strategy to “divide and conquer”.
“The idea […] is to try and turn Gaza into a land controlled by warlords in different parts, so there is no unity among the Palestinians,” he says.
“We can see what happens to countries that are divided by warlords, and the kind of internal struggles that emerge and often last years or decades,” Prof Gordon says
………..
It’s not exactly clear when Yasser Abu Shabab turned against Hamas. Sky News obtained evidence that he had attempted to join the organisation’s feared security services in 2010.
One of his senior commanders, Issam Nabahin, has a longer history of militancy.
In 2015, Hamas identified him as an Islamic State militant and a suspect in the bombing of their vehicles. The following year, Egyptian intelligence also identified him as an Islamic State fighter.
Image:Issam Nabahin was named by Hamas’s armed wing as a suspect in a series of bombings in Gaza City in 2015.
“After he broke from terrorism, he joined the Popular Forces,” says Hassan. “We only came to know him when the Popular Forces were formed.”
Image:Issam Nabahin (R) with Ghassan Al Duhine, commander of the Popular Forces’ military wing. Pic: Facebook
When Biden warned Netanyahu on his visit after the October massacre by Hamas, ‘do not make the mistake we made in Iraq’….let us recap what happened by reading how the coalition destroyed Iraq and the consequences:
But how many Palestinians have died in the numerous battles since 1947? It seems it is an Israel plan to divide and conquer the Palestinians, making them ungovernable, so reducing their chances of ever having their land returned to them.
This can never be a Path to Peace. The pain of it all will always radiate out across the world until respect for each other is ultimately the final stage before acceptance of living peacefully together.
And in the UK, 5th October:
Politics latest: Police forces to be granted new powers in crackdown on repeat protests
The home secretary is to introduce new restrictions on protests and will give police officers more powers to consider the ‘cumulative impact’ of repeated demonstrations.
Sky News
And the UK demands peaceful protests must end, making those who want our government to do more to prevent more death in Gaza feel those with money and influence are guiding UK policy, not serving the demands of the population.
In Sept. 2025:
Military operations: Half (53%) of Britons think Israel’s military actions in Gaza have gone too far. Liberal Democrat (73%) and Labour (65%) 2024 voters are most likely to hold this view, while Reform UK voters (39%) are least likely.
Responsibility for the conflict: 45% of Britons say that the Israeli government has a great deal of responsibility for the current conflict, while a similar proportion (40%) name Hamas. Other actors identified as having a great deal of responsibility include the Palestinian Authority (21%) and the United States (21%), while a quarter (24%) don’t know. When combining those who only chose one option at this question with those who chose two or more and were asked a follow-up, “who do you think is most responsible?”, a third of Britons (32%) say they don’t know if only choosing one actor (23% say the Israeli government, 20% say Hamas).
High level of concern: Seven in ten (69%) Britons express concern about the impact of the conflict in Israel and Gaza on regional stability within the Middle East, while two in three (66%) worry about the plight of Palestinian civilians. 63% are concerned about UK national safety and security, while 62% are concerned about community relations in the UK. Half (50%) say they are worried about the impact of the conflict on Israeli civilians, while 37% say they are worried about the impact on themselves.
Government response: 46% say that the UK government has done a bad job responding to the conflict. Reform UK voters are most critical (67% bad job), while Labour voters are split 30% good job vs 35% bad job. Half (49%) say Prime Minister Keir Starmer has done a bad job.
Neutral mediator: A third (33%) of Britons think the UK should act as a neutral mediator in the conflict, 18% believe the UK should not be involved at all. 19% say the UK should support the Palestinians, while 7% say the UK should support Israel.
Recognition of a Palestinian state: 44% of Britons believe that the UK government should recognise Palestine as a country (while only 13% disagree). However, 41% say it would not make any difference to resolving the conflict.
There may be Peace between Palestinians and Israelis, but the Palestinians have been denied the release of Marwan Barghouti. This March 2024 article illustrates why he is so imporyant to the Peace process. The Israeli extreme right are adamant he will never be released.
Palestinians, and some Israelis, see Marwan Barghouti as key to peace. They need him out of prison first
After more than 2 decades in jail, the man Israel brands a terrorist remains most popular Palestinian leader
Margaret Evans · CBC News · Posted: Mar 26, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: March 26, 2024
There are those who are concerned that once the hostages are released the attacks on Hamas will encompass more innocent civilians who have had their hopes raised that the killing and suffering will stop.
Gazans are moving north after hearing about the ceasefire.
‘Destruction is everywhere’: Wary Gazans start their journey home as ceasefire begins
Middle East
After two years of brutal war in Gaza, a ceasefire came into effect on Friday. Israel started pulling back its troops as thousands of displaced Palestinians began to trek back to their wrecked homes. While many felt a sense of relief, others erred on the side of caution as the future of the truce pushed by US President Donald Trump remains unclear.
Issued on: 10/10/2025 – 16:00Modified: 10/10/2025 – 17:19
Politics latest: Phillipson announces crackdown on antisemitism at UK universities
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said she will “not allow hatred to deter students from their education” and warned universities that “the buck stops with” them. But the Tories say British Jews are being “badly let down”.
British Jews do not all support Netanyahu’s decision to destroy Gaza as a punishment for the atrocities Hamas committed on October 7th, 2023. But Palestinian supporters would say not all Palestinians are Hamas supporters, who swore to eradicate Israel.
Just as the Nazis killed the occupants of whole villages because they found small numbers of resistance fighters in their midst, so we see the ‘tarring with the same brush’ on both sides of the argument.
Hatred is often mixed with fear and anxiety and these emotions are easily exploited by people who want to seize control and power.
Yet, within all communities love binds people and that gives them strength to rise above the hate and fear and refresh humanity.
UK: Can we protect Israeli football supporters?
Jewish Aston Villa group slams West Midlands Police over Maccabi Tel Aviv ban
Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti suffers rib fractures after assault in Israeli prisons
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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Palestinian artists work by a mural shows jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on April 13, 2023. [Nidal Al-Wahidi/Apaimages]
Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti sustained rib fractures after being beaten in Israeli prisons, the Prisoners’ Media Office said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.
The Hamas-run office said on Telegram that Barghouti was beaten by Israeli prison guards while being transferred from Ramon Prison in southern Israel to Megiddo Prison in the north in mid-September.
The imprisoned leader lost consciousness and suffered a fracture in four ribs, it added.
Barghouti, 66, a senior leader of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group, is one of the most prominent and popular figures in Palestinian politics.
He has been serving five life sentences in Israeli prisons since 2002 on charges related to the Second Intifada, which began in 2000.
And:
Palestinian prisoner Abu Shanab says Israeli authorities abused detainees until final moments before release
In Boston today, Judge William G. Young answered an anonymous correspondent who trolled the judge on June 19 by writing a postcard that said: “TRUMP HAS PARDONS AND TANKS…. WHAT DO YOU HAVE?” Young reproduced the writing at the top of his decision finding that Trump’s attempted deportations of legal residents for their pro-Palestinian speech violated the First Amendment. Then the judge answered: “Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, Alone, I have nothing but my sense of duty. Together, We the People of the United States—you and me—have our magnificent Constitution.”
Judge Young explained how Trump’s officers are using fear—through masked ICE agents, for example—“to terrorize Americans” so they stop resisting the president’s attempts to silence opposition. But, the judge went on, “The United States is a great nation, not because any of us say so. It is great because we still practice our frontier tradition of selflessness for the good of us all. Strangers go out of their way to help strangers when they see a need. In times of fire, flood, and national disaster, everyone pitches in to help people we’ve never met and first responders selflessly risk their lives for others. Hundreds of firefighters rushed into the Twin Towers on 9/11 without hesitation desperate to find and save survivors. That’s who we are. And on distant battlefields our military ‘fought and died for the men [they] marched among.’ Each day, I recognize (to paraphrase Lincoln again) that the brave men and women, living and dead, who have struggled in our Nation’s service have hallowed our Constitutional freedom far above my (or anyone’s) poor power to add or detract. The only Constitutional rights upon which we can depend are those we extend to the weakest and most reviled among us.”
The judge concluded: “I fear President Trump believes the American people are so divided that today they will not stand up, fight for, and defend our most precious constitutional values so long as they are lulled into thinking their own personal interests are not affected.
Lifesaving relief efforts to help remote Afghan communities devastated by last month’s deadly earthquake have already been hit by the de facto authorities’ decision to cut internet access nationwide, UN aid agencies said on Tuesday.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on Taliban leaders to immediately and fully restore Internet and telecommunications services.
“As of yesterday, 1700 hours, we were informed that the telecommunications and fibreoptic connectivity in Afghanistan is going to be suspended until further notice,” said the top UN official in the country, Indrika Ratwatte, via a patchy satellite video link from Kabul.
“The rest of the country is completely cut off right now, by and large,” he explained, adding that connectivity has been lost with aid teams in the “deep field” who are delivering assistance to survivors of last month’s quake in eastern Afghanistan.
“We don’t have connectivity with them,” he stressed, highlighting needs among families originally from hillside villages who now live in crowded informal settlements on the valley floor in Kunar province.
In one community, Mr. Ratwatte met one woman who had lost 11 members of her family. “The trauma is quite immense,” he said.
More than 43 million people in Afghanistan are now believed to be offline, after the Taliban began cutting communications cables several weeks ago, reportedly to tackle “vice” and immorality in the light of their strict interpretation of Sharia law.
The work of UN humanitarians has been also set back by the de facto authorities’ ban on women nationals on staff from entering its premises, earlier this month.
Total shutdown
In addition to impacting the work of the UN and partner organizations, the internet shutdown has affected health programmes, banking services and financial services, UN humanitarian coordinator Mr. Ratwatte stressed.
“At a community level, I would imagine that for normal business transactions, for banking, for cash transfers, for remittances that come from abroad, which are critical for these communities, that’s been cut off,” he explained.
One month since the 6.0 magnitude quake struck eastern regions of Afghanistan, remote communities are still struggling to recover. The disaster killed around 2,000 people and injured 3,600, damaging 8,500 homes.
“The winter is not anymore on the way, it’s upon us,” Mr. Ratwatte warned, stressing the need to insulate shelters for displaced people and provide warm clothing amid plummeting temperatures.
We all remember the Trump first administration negotiating a Peace deal in 2020:
The Trump administration in February 2020 negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government, freed 5,000 imprisoned Taliban soldiers and set a date certain of May 1, 2021, for the final withdrawal.
And the Trump administration kept to the pact, reducing U.S. troop levels from about 13,000 to 2,500, even though the Taliban continued to attack Afghan government forces and welcomed al-Qaeda terrorists into the Taliban leadership.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman for nearly two decades, appears at a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 17. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times)
Biden delayed the May 1 withdrawal date that he inherited. But ultimately his administration pushed ahead with a plan to withdraw by Aug. 31, despite obvious signs that the Taliban wasn’t complying with the agreement and had a stated goal to create an “Islamic government” in Afghanistan after the U.S. left, even if it meant it had to “continue our war to achieve our goal.
In September 2025, President Trump demanded from the Taliban the return of the US base at Bagram, but was denied.
October 1, 2025, 12:41 AM
It’s not every day that a U.S. president publicly demands the return of a military base from a former adversary. But that’s exactly what happened last week, when President Donald Trump said that his administration is “trying to get” Bagram back from the Taliban.
Bagram was the scene of appalling torture of Afghan captives by US soldiers:
In 2021, ex-Bagram inmates recounted stories of abuse and torture, including electric shocks, beatings, confinement in tiny, windowless cells, and sexual abuse. The United Nations (UN) has also released reports highlighting the continued use of torture and mistreatment of conflict-related detainees by Afghan security forces, with at least 39% of interviewees reporting such experiences. In addition, there have been reports of Taliban fighters torturing and killing members of ethnic minorities, such as the Hazara Shia Muslims. These incidents contradict the Taliban’s promises and raise concerns about a return to their harsh rule in the 1990s
An al-Qaida leader with close ties to Osama bin Laden was arrested Friday, Pakistani counterterrorism police announced.
Amin ul Haq was detained in Pakistan’s Punjab province following a yearlong manhunt.
“In a significant breakthrough in the fight against terrorism, CTD [Counter-Terrorism Department], in collaboration with intelligence agencies, successfully apprehended Amin ul Haq, a senior leader of al-Qaida,” the counterterrorism police department’s spokesperson said in the statement, according to Reuters.
The CTD arrested Haq in a town near Jhelum, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Deputy Inspector General of Police Usman Gondal said at a news conference that the arrest had foiled possible future attacks being planned by Haq.
Haq, whose full name is listed in the U.N. Security Council’s sanction list as Amin Muhammad ul Haq Saam Khan, was added in January 2001, for his association with al-Qaida and the Taliban, and for “supporting acts or activities of” bin Laden.
The sanction notes that Haq “coordinated security for [Osama] bin Laden.”
Deputy spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary-General told Newsweek in an email Friday: “All efforts to comply with the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions are positive and we encourage such steps by Member States.”
Newsweek reached out to the Punjab Police and the U.S. State Department for comment via email on Friday.
A U.N. Security Council document identifies Haq as born in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province in 1960. The U.N. document says he remained in Afghanistan as of August 2021, when the Taliban took control of the country and the U.S. withdrew from Kabul after 20 years.
Javid Ahmad, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and the Middle East Institute, told Newsweek in an email, “While it was interesting to see his grandiose public return to Afghanistan right after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, possibly in breach of AQ’s [al-Qaida] security protocol, he operated silently from Nangarhar and Kunar provinces and played an important liaison role in reorganizing AQ [al-Qaida] forces and forging new tactical partnerships with various groups.”
Ahmad said Haq was “intimately familiar with the caves where bin Laden hid in eastern Afghanistan.”
In the region, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan firm up security plans:
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s mutual defence pact sets a precedent for extended deterrence
Riyadh may not want to rely solely on Washington for its defence, but it remains to be seen how robust its new security agreement with Islamabad will be in practice.
During last week’s state visit by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia, the two countries announced a ‘Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’. This marks a significant upgrade in their long-standing bilateral security relationship, stating that ‘any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.’
The pact is significant for regional security dynamics between South Asia and the Middle East. It also reflects an increasingly multipolar strategic environment, whereby countries hedge against growing insecurity by diversifying their security partnerships in novel ways.
Response to regional threats
Saudi Arabia has had generally warm relations with Pakistan since the latter’s independence in 1947, reflecting in part ideological convergences between their Sunni Muslim majority populaces.
‘Tommy Robinson’ led a racist, Anti immigration March in London September 13 2025.
He has been in trouble with the law like many of those who joined has various mobs.
The 42-year-old was released from prison earlier this year after being jailed in October for ignoring an order not to repeat false claims about a Syrian refugee, who had successfully sued him for libel.
The English Defence League (EDL), formerly known as the English & Jewish Defence League,[1] was a far-right, Islamophobic organisation active in England from 2009 until the mid-late 2010s. A social movement and pressure group that employed street demonstrations as its main tactic, the EDL presented itself as a single-issue movement opposed to Islamism and Islamic extremism, although its rhetoric and actions targeted Islam and Muslims more widely. Wikipedia
The English Defence League have notorious child abusers in their midst, yet they are the first to produce rhetoric as if they are protectors of our children in England. If they can find an immigrant who has been suggestive with a local young girl, they will incite local riots and burn homes of innocent migrants in the vicinity, tarring them all with being a threat to our female population.
The EDL formed around several football hooligan firms in 2009. ‘Tommy Robinson’ (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) became the group’s de facto leader shortly after.
……….
Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has multiple criminal convictions, including assault, mortgage fraud, and contempt of court. He has served several prison sentences, with notable convictions for assaulting an off-duty police officer in 2005 and for contempt of court in 2018 and 2024. The Week Wikipedia
More on Yaxley-Lennon:
He was a founder of the Islamophobic English Defence League and a former member of the British National Party and various other groups with fascist or white nationalist links.
Those that flock to join his activities are often reprehensible:
1990s
Leigh MacMillan, EDL: convicted of three counts of indecent assault, two of the indecency with a child and one of attempted rape. Jailed for a total of 17 years.
The heinous crimes took place during the mid-1990s, and the victim, who was only 10 years old at the time, endured a relentless pattern of abuse that left deep scars.
According to court proceedings at the Old Bailey, McMillan, who was identified as a senior member of the far-right group the English Defence League, used manipulative tactics to groom his young victim.
This is how truth is reversed and proven criminals boast of being defenders of morality in Britain.
How did we get here?
The spread of such misinformation and the subsequent unrest highlight the deep-seated anxieties and fears that exist within certain segments of the British population. Economic challenges, cultural changes, and political uncertainty have all contributed to a sense of insecurity among many, which far-right groups have been quick to exploit. These groups often use misinformation as a tool to scapegoat immigrants, framing them as the cause of various social and economic woes. By doing so, they redirect public frustration away from the more complex, systemic issues that underlie these problems and towards a vulnerable and visible “other.” This process not only deepens societal divisions but also serves to further entrench the power and influence of these far-right movements
Robinson stood down as the group’s leader in 2013, citing fears over the “dangers of far-right extremism”. The same year, he publicly apologised to Muslim communities and offered to give evidence to the police to aid their investigation into EDL members.
He has been very active lately due to funding from his friends abroad:
Outside the Old Bailey in 2018, a reinvented Tommy Robinson flashed his perfect new teeth to 2,000 diehard supporters at a “free Tommy” rally on a stage that blocked the street.
Robinson was suddenly flush with US funds that transformed him from rightwing agitator to self-styled “citizen journalist”, with slick videos and a vast social media following that helped his Unite the Kingdom demonstration draw 110,000 protesters to the streets of London on Saturday.
Money from one man – US tech billionaire Robert Shillman – ties Robinson to a Who’s Who of far-right influencers with millions of followers online. Among them was US conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered in Utah last week.
Robinson’s reinvention for the social media age, which expanded his heavy focus on Muslims allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, was the result of his “Shillman fellowship” in 2017 to rightwing Canadian website Rebel Media – now called Rebel News – to the tune of about £85,000 over a year.
Shillman, who calls himself “Dr Bob”, citing his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is said to be a key figure in the transatlantic “counter-jihad” movement. He has invested in about 20 fellowships, working with Rebel News and rightwing thinktank the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC), where the aim is “to promote freedom and to expose the lies of the radical left, the Islamist movement, and their allies in the media”.
There seems to be something these people have in common with certain US people in the news:
Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier convicted 11 years ago of soliciting minors for prostitution, now stands accused of preying on children in a manner that is disturbingly familiar to sex-traffi8cking experts: targeting society’s most vulnerable.
A federal indictment unsealed Monday charges that Epstein “sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls,” some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, and other locations. The indictment describes the victims as “particularly vulnerable to exploitation.”
ICE’s family separations are forcing children to parent themselves
by Diana Fishbein, opinion contributor – 08/08/25 1:30 PM ET
Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty ImagesJose Zavala, center, embraces his daughters Arabel, 17, Isella, 11, and his wife Maria Murillo upon Zavala’s arriving home in Pomona following a 12 hour bus ride from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center in El Paso, Texas on Wednesday morning July 30, 2025. It was the first time they’ve seen each other since he was detained June 18.
And the revved up anti immigration hatred has sped up the introduction of a ‘Brit card’:
The UK is planning to introduce a compulsory digital ID system, known as the “Brit card,” which will verify citizens’ rights to live and work in the country. This initiative aims to modernize identification processes and help combat illegal immigration. Sky the-independent.com
And digitization of each of us leaves us dangerously exposed to hackers:
And they, who shout about ‘free speech’ yet want to shout hateful words, whilst Musk tells them to ‘fight or die’ (he having flown on the ‘Lolita Express’ to Jeffery Epstein’s paedophile island), they mean harm to our social fabric.
Elon Musk’s Protest Comments: Where Does Free Speech End and the Law Begin?
In America, this is what is happening to the immigrant community. We do not want this to happen in the UK and find it abhorrent to see such cruelty in America:
The videos are popping up in our social media feeds on almost a daily basis. Masked ICE agents tossing, tackling, tasing and even beating people during mass deportation operations in the U.S. Just over the last several days, astonishingly nightmarish videos, captured by eyewitnesses, have revealed the brutal tactics and outright thuggish behavior employed during Trump’s crackdown on migrants.
This cannot be any way to treat our fellow human beings:
In the shadow of political posturing and enforcement quotas, a silent tragedy unfolds every day in the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids homes, workplaces and even community spaces, leaving children in the wake of their parents’ abrupt and often unexplained detention.
These separations are not just logistical inconveniences; they are acts of profound harm — wounds that, though invisible, may never fully heal.
Take the case of Beverly Juarez. The soft-spoken 21-year-old suddenly became the sole caretaker for her three younger siblings after her parents — both law-abiding people here in the U.S. for 20 years — were deported.
Or consider six-year-old Gabriela Pineda, left in limbo after her mother was detained at an ICE office. She is now living with her mother’s fiancé, whom she barely knows.
These are not isolated stories — they represent a national crisis, where the very fabric of family life is being unraveled.
Larry Ellson, 3 years older than me, seems to own my private data. Guess no-one bothered to ask me if I approved of that, but then, maybe to them, I am just a number:
Cash-strapped NHS trusts hand former PM Tony Blair’s tech pal Larry Ellison £1.5bn contract
Contracts worth £3 billion to create digital health records have been awarded to two US tech giants despite lower offers from UK-based suppliers, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The news comes as the US starts a global trade war that could plunge Britain into recession and amid claims the NHS is wasting taxpayers’ money on expensive foreign IT systems instead of buying British.
The Government last month abolished NHS England – described by Ministers as the ‘biggest quango in the world’ – in a bid to cut costs and curb red tape as it tries to mend the public finances. It has also introduced laws to make people’s medical records available online across all NHS hospitals, GP surgeries and ambulance services in England to deliver better care for patients.
One of the US giants involved in the expansion of electronic patient records (EPRs) is Oracle, whose founder Larry Ellison is the world’s fourth-richest man.
Software magnate Larry Ellison is a leading contributor to the policy institute built by former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
According to the Larry Ellison Foundation’s IRS return filed late last year, Oracle’s CTO and founder donated $33.83 million to the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) in 2021 and plans to contribute another $49.37 million in the near future.
Ellison’s foundation is also listed as a donor on the body’s most recent set of accounts filed [PDF] at Companies House.
“Palantir and Oracle are both dedicated to defending western interests and institutions around the world,” said Josh Harris, executive vice-president, Palantir. “Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s unique ability to help customers meet their regulatory, performance, and security needs will increase our impact and help our global clients gain the full benefits of cloud and AI.”
Moreover, Oracle cloud also have separate data center regions for government services in US and UK. These cloud data centers are purpose-built to handle the sensitive government data and meet the security compliance.
Below we have listed Oracle cloud data center locations by continental regions and countries:
United Kingdom host four regions; 3 of which are named as UK South (London), UK Gov South (London) and UK Gov West (Newport). Former one has 3 availability domains. Whereas, latter two are dedicated government cloud regions with single availability domain in each. Apart from that it has a region called “London Gov Classic” with limited classic cloud services for government.
London Gov Classic
London Gov classic is the only classic data center region of Oracle in Europe, which host government data and services.
UK Gov West (Newport)
Region identifier: uk-gov-cardiff-1 Region key: BRS Realm key: OC4 Availability domains: 1
UK Gov South (London)
Region identifier: uk-gov-london-1 Region key: LTN Realm key: OC4 Availability domains: 1
UK South (London)
Region identifier: uk-london-1 Region key: LHR Realm key: OC1 Availability domains: 3
Larry Ellison is now in the spotlight for recent media related aquisitions:
Oracle, chaired by Trump ally Larry Ellison, is seeking to take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations as part of a consortium that includes Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz.
The proposal — if green-lit by China — could give one of Trump’s billionaire allies unprecedented sway over a platform central to youth culture and political organizing.
Meanwhile, Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount this summer handed Ellison’s son, David, control of CBS News, where he appointed a conservative ombudsman to review complaints about the network’s coverage.
Paramount-Skydance is in advanced talks to acquire Bari Weiss’ conservative news site, The Free Press, and give her a senior editorial role at CBS.
The Ellisons are also working on a cash bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN — potentially putting two of America’s most iconic TV news brands under the purview of one Trump-aligned family.
And I note Intercept reporting another doner to Israel:
pro-Israel fanatic that he reportedly donated at least $26 million to a nonprofit that supports the IDF and once offered Benjamin Netanyahu a seat on Oracle’s board.
And in Forbes, back in 2015, reporting the list of billionaires in America, Israel365news picked out the Jews amongst them:
Larry Ellison
No. 3 of the Forbes 400 Net Worth: $47.5 billion
Larry Ellison, the world’s wealthiest Jew, made his fortune by founding the database-software giant Oracle Corporation. He and his wife have donated millions to various causes in Israel. Most notably, they donated $9 million in a lump sum to the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces through Friends of the IDF (FIDF). On an Israel visit in 2007, upon touring a community center in the southern city of Sderot, which often comes under rocket attacks from Gaza, he immediately pledged $500,000 towards reinforcing the center against rocket
Is this the real sum of the ‘special relationship’ the UK has with the US?
Maybe this is something I shouldn’ t bother my old head with; after all, I am not an old billionaire, like Larry, so I can’t expect to be asked my opinion.
October 2025, Larry Ellison, the biggest donor to support the IDF, is looking to silence support for the Palestinian cause by buying Warner Bros/Discovery who own CNN.
Keir Starmer was guided to power by Morgan McSweeney. (Photo: Allstar / Alamy)
In Get In: The Inside Story of Labour under Starmer, like its predecessor Left Out, which chronicled Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire have grasped the core reality of Labour’s history over the past decade.
For all their portrayal as ruthless Stalinists, the left were hopelessly ill equipped for the life and death struggle Corbyn’s unexpected 2015 victory plunged them into.
They lacked organisation, coherence and, above all, the cold bloodedness that the battle ahead required.
It is the right who have behaved like a ruthless Trotskyist sect.
The first sentence of the first chapter states Jeremy Corbyn was destroyed by a “conspiracy.” Thereafter the book is an exposé of what the authors (who work for the Times and Sunday Times) call “the great deception …. a plot without precedent in Labour history.”
The astonishing story Get In tells would probably lead to a left wing member of the party being suspended for peddling antisemitic conspiracy theories if they articulated the bare outlines in a speech.
It revolves almost entirely around one man, Morgan McSweeney, the founder of Labour Together, the organisation that propelled Starmer to power, and now his Chief of Staff.
As one senior government adviser said in the first months of Starmer’s premiership: ‘It’s impossible to work out whether Keir realises he is a pawn in a chess game. Or does he like being a pawn in a chess game, provided it makes him powerful?’ *
Stephen Miller said, through the media, that Charlie Kirk’s last words to him were about dismantling the “radical left”.
“The last message that Charlie Kirk gave to me before he joined his creator in heaven,” Miller said, was, “that we have to dismantle and take on the radical left organizations in this country that are fomenting violence, and we are going to do that.”
White House adviser Stephen Miller has said Charlie Kirk gave him a message before his assassination, which was to “dismantle” what he called the “radical left.”
Miller said that the killing of Kirk, a stanch ally of President Donald Trump and proponent of the MAGA movement, took place within the backdrop of “a domestic terrorism movement in this country.”
Stephen Miller is fulfilling his ambitions just now, he is a man with a mission, unelected but with strong convictions and the trust of his President.
Brittanica information on Stephen Miller covers his life, career and influences. Here us an extract:
During the 2016 presidential contest, Miller joined Trump’s campaign as a policy adviser. (Bannon also worked on the campaign, and Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump.) Miller later became a speechwriter and was sometimes Trump’s warm-up speaker at rallies. After Trump won, Miller served as a senior policy adviser in the administration. His primary responsibility was shaping immigration policies. Notably, he was a leading advocate of the family separation policy, in which children were taken from parents who had illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Miller also supported the so-called Muslim ban, which barred entry into the United States from several Muslim-majority countries.
He talks of radicalisation by the “left” which he abhors.
It is possible that, as a teenager, he was traumatised, as most of America was, by the al Qaeda 9/11 act which put the then president, George W Bush, into a constitution-changing mode after he announced the country was declaring a War on Terror.
The long-term consequences of Bush’s immigration policies included a continued reliance on undocumented labor, increased deportations, and the establishment of a more militarized border. These dynamics contributed to the ongoing polarization of immigration discourse in the United States, shaping public perceptions and policies in subsequent administrations.
Intimidation of Muslims in America after 9/11 – this article helps to illustrate the long term harm resulting from the attack:
the next few days, I’d feel under attack as a Muslim. Our imam at our masjid brought to the prayer a big box stuffed with tiny American flags. He told us that if any of us felt unsafe, we could hang these flags out of our cars or out of our homes. Stories about Muslim women in hijabs and Muslim men with big beards being accosted in the street in hateful “revenge” attacks became commonplace. An FBI hotline was flooded with anonymous tips—96,000 of them in the week after the attacks—and the bar for being suspicious felt as low as being visibly Muslim. It didn’t feel safe to be Muslim outside of the mosque.
All over the country, not just my corner of Jersey, hate crimes against Muslims—and anyone perceived to be Muslim—soared in the days after 9/11. The White House sought to stave off a full-blown wave of violence. President George W. Bush quickly made the distinction between Muslim Americans and the terrorists who attacked us. On Sept. 17, Bush famously gave a speech from inside the Islamic Center of Washington. “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam,” he said. “That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace.”
In an exclusive interview in an undisclosed location, Sky News learns many of the planes landing in South Darfur are allegedly bringing weapons from the Middle Eastern country – something its government vehemently denies.
In an exclusive interview with Sky News at a location we cannot disclose, an RSF intelligence officer confirms widespread allegations that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the RSF’s main backer in a war that has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and forced 13 million people to flee their homes.
“In the beginning, it was the Russians – Wagner and the state. Now, they tell me it is the UAE supporting the RSF,” says Ahmed*, using an alias to protect his identity.
UAE increasing support to Sudan’s RSF with new Chinese drones: Report
US intelligence from as recently as October indicated the UAE was stepping up support for the paramilitary force
This image grab taken from handout video footage released on Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Telegram account on 26 October shows RSF fighters holding weapons and celebrating in the streets of el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur (AFP)
US intelligence agencies reported as recently as October that the UAE has increased its supply of Chinese drones and other weapon systems to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Department of Defence’s intelligence agency and the State Department’s intelligence bureau both reported an increase in the flow of weapons from the UAE to the rebel group that has been accused of committing genocide in Darfur, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal.
The supplies include advanced Chinese-made drones along with small arms, heavy machine guns, vehicles, artillery, mortars, and ammunition.
The UAE’s support for the RSF has been well documented, and much of the WSJ report corroborates Middle East Eye’s exclusive reporting on the UAE’s role in the conflict.
MEE reported in January 2024 that the UAE was supplying the RSF with weapons through a complex network of supply lines and alliances stretching across Libya, Chad, Uganda, and breakaway regions of Somalia.
While the two contracts move somewhat in unison, WTI is more sensitive to American economic developments, and Brent responds more to those in other countries.
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The Bottom Line
Crude oil, a vital and finite resource, plays a pivotal role in the global economy as the primary source of energy production and a key raw material for products like gasoline, diesel, and plastics. It is traded globally as a commodity, influenced heavily by supply-demand principles and geopolitical factors.
While the environmental impact of oil extraction and consumption is a concern, its importance persists as nations and industries depend on it for energy. Investors engage with crude oil through futures and spot markets to hedge, diversify portfolios, or speculate on price fluctuations. Despite its environmental controversies, crude oil’s significant role in energy production and economic activities underscores its indispensable status.
Tragically, the Amazon forest in Brazil, after decades of destruction, is the latest casualty in oil production
Half a century of oil exploration has left the world’s largest rainforest scarred by deforestation, water contamination and air pollution. Indigenous lands have been infringed and economic disparities exacerbated. Now a new wave of drilling threatens to perpetuate this destructive legacy.
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The Amazon now holds nearly one-fifth of the world’s recently discovered oil and natural gas reserves, establishing itself as a new global frontier for the fossil fuel industry.
Almost 20 percent of global reserves identified between 2022 and 2024 are located in the region, primarily offshore along South America’s northern coast between Guyana and Suriname. This wealth has sparked increasing international interest from oil companies and neighboring countries like Brazil, which is looking to exploit its own coastal resources.
In total, the Amazon region accounts for 5.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent
A unit of measurement that converts energy sources into barrels of oil.
In total, the Amazon region accounts for 5.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of around 25 billion discovered worldwide during this period, according to our analysis of Global Energy Monitor data, which tracks energy infrastructure development globally.
And Guyana and Suriname are the locations of this newly found oil.
April 16, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic
Brazilian state-owned energy giant Petrobras has disclosed the arrival of a jack-up rig, owned by Borr Drilling, a UK-headquartered offshore drilling contractor, in Brazilian waters, where it will undertake well decommissioning activities at oil and gas assets off the coast of Brazil.
Arabia I jack-up rig comes to PGA-5, where work will be carried out in Sergipe; Source: Petrobras After Borr Drilling’s Arabia I jack-up rig won a four-year contract with Petrobras in Brazil, with a four-year unpriced option, the work was slated to begin in Q1 2025.
Crude oil is in finite supply. Humans have learned they can’t live without fossil fuels, but using them is accelerating emissions, heating the oceans and killing living things at a rapid rate.
Wars are being fought because of its finite nature.
President Trump has ordered Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers to the southern Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela
The amount of toxic “forever chemicals” flowing into the River Mersey in north-west England has reached some of the highest levels recorded anywhere in the world.
My team’s research links much of this contamination to old landfills, waste facilities and past industrial activity. Even if these chemicals were banned tomorrow, they would continue polluting our rivers for decades, possibly centuries.
But there is a path forward. We’ve developed a new method to track and prioritise the largest sources for clean-up, giving regulators a clearer picture of where to act first.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), more commonly known as “forever chemicals”, are a large family of human-made chemicals found in everyday products like food packaging, water-repellent clothes and fire-fighting foams. They are valued for their ability to resist very high temperatures and to repel water and oil, but these same properties make them extremely persistent.
Once released, some PFAS could take thousands of years to break down. They accumulate in the environment, build up – with different compounds accumulating at different rates – inside the bodies of wildlife and people, and have been associated with harms to health. The most studied types have been linked to cancers, hormone disruption and immune system problems.
Patrick Byrne has been measuring PFAS ‘loads’ in rivers over a period of time, not just the concentration at one moment. CC BY-NC-ND
Last year, my research team discovered that the amount of two potentially cancer-causing PFAS chemicals washing off the land and into the Mersey was among the highest in the world. In our follow-on research, we travelled upstream to try and locate where these PFAS are coming from. But with hundreds of potential PFAS sources, how do we isolate the largest ones?
The secret is measuring something called the PFAS load – the total amount of PFAS flowing through the river at a given point, rather than just the concentration in the water.
Here’s why that matters: a small stream can have high concentrations but carry only a small total amount, while a large river with lower concentrations can be transporting far more PFAS overall. If we only look at concentration, we risk missing the really heavy polluters.
By measuring PFAS loads at multiple points along the Mersey system, we could see exactly where the largest increases occurred. That told us both the location and the scale of PFAS inputs.
We detected PFAS chemicals at 97% of our sample sites, even in supposedly pristine streams draining from the Peak District national park. But the big breakthroughs came when we matched the largest PFAS load increases to specific areas.
PFBS (a type of PFAS) was coming in huge amounts from land draining old landfills in the Glaze Brook watershed near Leigh, west of Manchester. PFOA, a globally banned and cancer-causing PFAS, appeared to originate from a waste management facility on the River Roch, north of Manchester. PFOS, another banned PFAS, was entering the River Bollin, with strong evidence pointing to historic firefighting foam use at Manchester Airport.
What’s most striking to me is that all these sources are rooted in the past – old landfills, waste sites or historic industrial use. These chemicals are no longer in production, but they are still escaping into the environment, decades later.
This is where PFAS load measurements make a real difference. Instead of chasing the highest concentrations – which might lead to cleaning up small streams that contribute little overall – we can target the sites releasing the largest total amounts of PFAS into our rivers.
It’s a simple idea with major implications. In a world where environmental regulators face tight budgets and limited monitoring capacity, knowing exactly which sites are the biggest sources is vital.
The Mersey is just one example. Around the world, PFAS contamination follows a similar pattern: numerous potential sources scattered across the landscape, many of them historical. The chemicals’ extreme persistence means they will continue cycling through rivers, soils and wildlife for generations unless active steps are taken to remove or contain them.
Our latest study shows that measuring PFAS load can help solve one of the toughest challenges in managing chemical pollution: working out where to start. By identifying and prioritising the biggest sources, regulators have a realistic chance of reducing the flow of forever chemicals into our rivers – and perhaps one day, making that nickname a little less true.
Many years ago, one of my blogs was about a powerful Mesoamerican cult which elicited wonderful art and architecture, and it was a positive cult, revering Nature and humbled before it.
Today we have followers of fashion, music icons, great thinkers, drive our favourite motor vehicles and so on…and always we have had religious diversity, with sometimes clashing of belief systems.
We form cultures, and reinforce our strength of belief in them through wearing merchandise proclaiming that belief, and wearing badged clothing. We join together to celebrate them and talk to our fellow enthusiasts online, sometimes day by day, even hour by hour.
And in 2015, Dr Steven Hassan wrote a book, based on his escaping from the mind controlling Moonies Cult:
In the late 1950s the church spread to the West and in the 1970s was identified as a “cult.” Parents protested their children’s membership in the group, which often damaged careers and family ties. They sought the help of deprogrammers and filed civil lawsuits. Controversy surrounding the church led to congressional hearings, and in 1982 Moon was convicted of tax evasion. His supporters, including many mainline church leaders, saw the trial as an example of government religious persecution
His deprogramming led him to study what had happened to him and he earned a doctorate in the subject and became dedicated to helping people escape the psychological warfare people have been sucked into and harmed by the experience.
He wrote this in the preface to his book:
I dedicate this book to all those who have suffered from abusive mind control in the hope that it helps them heal. Freedom of mind—which includes critical thinking, pursuing facts, listening to one’s conscience, and acting with integrity—is the foundation of all our other freedoms, including freedom of religion.
We are also aware of psyops around the world, spreading so easily through social media:
Russian Strategic Psychological Operations (Psyops), specifically information operations, have an important place in the Kremlin’s foreign policy and Russian military strategy. Russia is conducting psyops on a global scale. Still, the war in Ukraine, the increasing attention to the Arctic region, and the Swedish and Finnish ascension to NATO are all factors which increase strategic value in psyops targeting Northern Europe.
borderslynn 
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