thank you bakie.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/29-countries-israel-participated-in-us-led-anti-hezbollah-me
29 countries, 'Israel' participated in US-led anti-Hezbollah meeting
The United States State Department organized in late June a meeting attended by diplomats, law enforcement officers, and intelligence experts from "Israel" and Saudi Arabia, as well as two other Gulf states and 24 countries from around the world to counter the "illicit activities" of Lebanese resistance faction Hezbollah.
The Law Enforcement Coordination Group, established in 2014, is part of the US effort to try and undermine the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah by striking what the US state department claims to be its financing networks.
Hezbollah is one of the leaders of the resistance effort to the Israeli occupation in West Asia, and that makes it a highly prominent target for Washington as it poses a dire threat to the West's colonial interests in the region and the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
The meeting was the first of its kind since US President Joe Biden took office, and it took place with the participation of 29 countries and "Israel" in Europe.
Officials flocked to the meeting from "Tel Aviv", Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and several European, African, and Latin American countries, sources claimed, highlighting Hezbollah's significance in foiling the plans the United States has for West Asia as part of its hegemonic plans aimed at expanding its influence around the world.
The meeting, chaired by the United States, was pushing for more countries to designate Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization", following in the footsteps of Washington, the European Union, and several Gulf states. Particularly, the meeting wanted countries in Africa and Latin America to join them, a State Department official who attended the meeting revealed.
The official also highlighted that the United States wanted to stress to the participants that despite Washington's attempts to undercut Hezbollah by economically stifling Iran and Lebanon by bombarding them with sanctions, the resistance faction was still growing and expanding in terms of capabilities and influence.
US-based Axios website previously said President Joe Biden's administration pressured the Lebanese government to criticize Hezbollah's sending of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to the Karish field natural gas platform in the Mediterranean sea.
Lebanese Resistance movement Hezbollah had released a statement on the three UAVs sent on a recon mission over the Karish gas field, before being shot down by Israeli occupation forces.
The UAVs are another indication of Hezbollah's growing capabilities, as a preliminary Israeli occupation forces investigation had revealed that the IOF air force pilots faced difficulty in downing one of Hezbollah's unmanned drones that were launched towards the Karish platform on Saturday, Israeli news website Walla reported.
The IOF investigation report also revealed that the Israeli pilots failed to track the second Hezbollah drone that was launched at the Karish platform before the drone was downed using a Barak missile from the Saar 5 Class Corvette.
Israeli media also said that the Israeli occupation's security establishments fear further attacks by Hezbollah.
>> The perfect show.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-tests-lockheed-martin-hypersonic-missiles
US tests Lockheed Martin hypersonic missiles
The United States, in light of mounting concerns that China and Russia have had more success manufacturing and developing their own homemade hypersonic weapons, announced Wednesday that Washington recently successfully launched two Lockheed Martin hypersonic missiles.
The Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) booster was successfully tested on Tuesday off the coast of California, the US Air Force said.
"This second successful test demonstrates ARRW's ability to reach and withstand operational hypersonic speeds, collect crucial data for use in further flight tests, and validate safe separation from the aircraft," Lockheed Martin said in a statement.
"We have now completed our booster test series and are ready to move forward to all-up-round testing later this year," said Air Force Brigadier General Heath Collins, program executive officer, Armament Directorate.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) revealed that it successfully performed the first test of its Operational Fires hypersonic weapon.
The latest time period has seen the US conduct successful hypersonic weapons tests in a change from its usual failures, raising questions about cost and increasing concerns that Washington has been failing in what is now dubbed a superpower arms race.
Operational Fires is a ground-launched system that will "rapidly and precisely engage critical, time-sensitive targets while penetrating modern enemy air defenses."
A DAPRA concept drawn up by Lockheed Martin depicts using an existing High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher, like those the US has been supplying Ukraine with, to launch the weapon.
Defense contractors hope to capitalize on the shift to hypersonic weapons by building them and developing new detection and defeat mechanisms.
Lockheed Martin handed over its first operational Multiple Rocket Launch System (MLRS) to the US Army, the company announced Tuesday in a press release.
According to Lockheed Martin, it seeks to upgrade the launcher with an enhanced 600 horsepower engine, an improved armored cab, and Common Fire Control System, the release read. The upgrade would provide compatibility with any munitions made in the future, such as the Extended-Range GMLRS and the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM).
Arms manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon Technologies have all touted their hypersonic weapons programs to investors in a bid to further benefit from wars and the shift to the new arms race taken to in light of surging tensions around the globe.
M270 MLRSs are among the weapons handed out to Kiev as part of the influx of western arms to the country in light of the Ukraine war. However, Ukraine has been found to be selling weapons it acquired from the West on the black market due to the Kiev forces' limited ability to use them because of their lack of training, logistical challenges, and the diminishing size of the Ukrainian armed forces, as per former Pentagon adviser Karen Kwiatkowski.
Just two weeks ago, the White House announced that the United States was sending a new batch of military supplies to Ukraine. The new batch of arms supply is worth $450 million in shipments.
Earlier that day, Ukraine received a batch of HIMARS, weapons set on top of the Ukrainian wishlist, and the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov thanked, via his Twitter account, his "colleague and friend Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III for these powerful tools!"
Though the United States has been taking care of providing training for the Ukrainian soldiers when it comes to arms they are not accustomed to, Kiev is still selling its arms to the black market due to "inexperience".
Even the HIMARS are likely to be sold, according to the former defense official, Pentagon policy chief Colin Kahl said Kiev's forces recently completed training on HIMARS delivered to Ukraine by Washington and London.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/settlers-uproot-400-olive-trees-in-the-northern-occupied-wes
Settlers uproot 400 olive trees in the northern occupied West Bank
Today, Thursday, Israeli settlers uprooted about 400 olive trees in the northern West Bank.
Ghassan Daghlas, the official who is responsible for the settlement file in the northern West Bank, reported that settlers uprooted about 400 olive trees (3 years old) from the lands of Deir Sharaf town, west of Nablus.
Daghlas indicated that the olive trees were uprooted from "private Palestinian property which is located near the Shavei Shomron settlement."
On its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the process of uprooting these trees, explaining that this scene "reoccurs daily within a clear division of roles between the settlers, their armed organizations, and the army, with the aim of stealing more of the citizens' lands and allocating them to deepen and expand settlements."
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry held the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for "these crimes".
It said the Israeli impunity and coexistence with the "low ceiling of international reactions, and the absence of international will to implement United Nations resolutions" encourage it to persist in "undermining the opportunity to resolve the conflict through peaceful, negotiated political means."
On May 8, Palestinian farmers in the town of Kafr Al-Dik, in the occupied West Bank governorate of Salfit, had their olive trees chopped off by Israeli settlers.
Witnesses told Palestine's WAFA news agency that a group of Israeli settlers chopped off nearly 30 olive trees belonging to local Palestinian citizens from the town of Kafr Al-Dik.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/following-nasrallah-speech-us-mediator-meets-israeli-energy
Following Nasrallah speech, US mediator meets Israeli energy minister
Israeli media reported that the US mediator, Amos Hochstein, met with Energy Minister Karine Elharrar in an attempt to move towards an agreement with Lebanon on the issue of maritime borders, "the most explosive issue now," following Hezbollah's Secretary-General speech yesterday.
The commentator for Arab affairs in the Israeli channel Kan said that "the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, who is accompanying Biden, met with Energy Minister Karine Elharrar, in an attempt to progress towards an agreement with Lebanon on the issue of maritime borders."
He added, "With all due respect to the very important Saudi affairs, this is the most explosive issue now, after Nasrallah's speech yesterday."
The Israeli media also quoted the Israeli Energy Minister as saying that she met with the American mediator for negotiations on the maritime borders with Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, and he did not "present the Lebanese position on the controversial issues."
"It seems that despite the severe energy crisis in Lebanon, the Lebanese leadership has not yet decided if it wants to conduct serious negotiations that lead to a solution to this issue," the Israeli minister added.
The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, discussed yesterday the latest political developments in Lebanon, the question of natural gas in the Mediterranean and the maritime borders, and presented the achievements of the resistance in the July war.
"The resistance is the only force Lebanon has to obtain its right to its oil and gas […] the extraction of [the natural resources] provides Lebanon with billions of dollars without the need for any foreign debt, and this is the only path for salvaging the country," he underscored.
He also said the resistance did not see the American mediator as a mediator, "but rather as a party that serves the interests of Israel and pressures the Lebanese side." He added that what brought Amos Hochstein on his last visit to Lebanon were two issues, "the dire need for securing an alternative to Russian gas and the resistance's serious threats."
Sayyed Nasrallah referred to "the resistance's right to take any step at the right time and the appropriate size to put pressure on the Israeli enemy."
Sayyed Nasrallah explained by adding that "The Resistance has the right to take any step of any gravity and at any time to pressure the Israeli enemy."
In the same context, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, affirmed today that Resistance is a strong point for Lebanon if the country knows to use it to demarcate the Lebanese maritime borders and extract oil and gas.
>> He added, "With all due respect to the very important Saudi affairs, this is the most explosive issue now, after Nasrallah's speech yesterday."
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/exclusive:-israeli-recklessness-against-lebanon-may-usher-al
Exclusive: Israeli recklessness against Lebanon may usher all-out war
A member of the Ansar Allah movement's political bureau in Yemen, Mohammad Al-Bukhaiti, told Al Mayadeen today that "the American and Israeli aggression are betting on the Arab NATO," stressing that both of the aggressors "are aware that Sayyed Nasrallah's threats are real."
Regarding the question of the maritime borders, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, announced yesterday, Wednesday, that "when things reach a dead-end, we will not only stand in the face of Karish… Mark these words: we will reach Karish, beyond Karish, and beyond, beyond Karish."
Al-Bukhaiti pointed out that "'Israel' and America realize today, that any recklessness coming from their part, especially towards Lebanon, may lead to an all-out war in the region," stressing that "'Israel's' entry into a war with Lebanon will trigger a comprehensive war in the region that will not be in the interest of the occupation."
A member of the Ansar Allah political bureau confirmed to Al Mayadeen that there are contacts and coordination between "all the countries of the resistance axis, including the brothers in Palestine," explaining that there is "today complete coordination between all the forces of the resistance axis and progress towards the return of the relationship between Hamas and Syria, and this disturbs some parties."
Al-Bukhaiti considered that what concerns Sanaa "is to support all Palestinian resistance movements, including Hamas, without expecting anything in return," pointing out that "the need of the aggression countries for a truce is greater than Yemen's need for it."
He added that "the goal of the aggression countries from the armistice is to enter the phase of no peace and no war with Yemen," noting that "Yemen has the military capabilities to destroy the oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and disrupt their ports and airports."
>> Shaping the narrative. Israel for last.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/palestinian-factions-reject-us-israeli-jerusalem-declaration
Palestinian factions reject US-Israeli 'Jerusalem Declaration'
Today, Thursday, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas rejected the document called the "Jerusalem Declaration" that was signed by US President Joe Biden and Israeli PM Yair Lapid, which aims to create a strategic partnership between the US and the Israeli occupation.
In a statement, the movement considered that the declaration came to perpetuate Washington's approach of siding with the occupation and supporting its aggression against the Palestinian people and their Islamic and Christian lands and holy sites.
It considered the declaration "a new chapter in the chapters of perpetuating the occupation and strengthening the joint American-Israeli terrorism directed against our land, our people and our holy sites, like other false pacts and treaties that our people experienced throughout their struggle history, and were able, thanks to their steadfastness and resistance, to thwart and fail them."
Hamas warned of the danger of what was contained in this declaration, calling for the mobilization of all "the forces of the nation towards rejecting it and not yielding to American dictates, which look after the interests of the Zionist enemy at the expense of the interests of the Arab and Islamic peoples and the cause of the nation Palestine."
Al-Nakhala: When we stop resisting the occupation, who will care about us and our rights?
For his part, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Ziad Al-Nakhala, said today that the results of US President Joe Biden's visit to the region are "known in advance to the Palestinian people," stressing that "Washington seeks to secure its interests and the security of the Zionist enemy."
In press statements, Al-Nakhala stressed "the need for the Palestinian people and the resistance to learn lessons and stop building dreams on such political actions," adding that "as long as we do not create a serious challenge for the enemy, there is no value for all political analyses and no value for all statements."
He asked, "When we stop resisting the occupation and accept a few facilities, who will care about us and our rights?"
The Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad urged the need to “sharpen our spirits and intensify the resistance to impose new facts on the ground,” explaining that “only then can we achieve the minimum level of what we aspire to; otherwise, we will wait for life facilitation and economic bribes that the enemy grants if we behave, in order to keep us silent and give up our rights.”
PFLP: Forms of resistance must be escalated and the circle of popular rejection expanded
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) considered the so-called “Jerusalem Declaration” signed today during the US President’s visit to the Israeli occupation, as “a continuation of the aggression against the Palestinian people and their national rights and the release of the Zionist entity’s hand in expanding and deepening its colonial project in Palestine.”
The Front stressed that the threats launched by the US President in occupied Al-Quds, "will fall with the resistance and steadfastness of our people and the peoples of the region and the forces of resistance," calling for the escalation of all forms of resistance and the expansion of the circle of popular rejection against the aggressive colonial and Zionist policies.
The Front recalled that "US threats against the peoples of the region will not succeed in restoring the image of the enemy that is a colonial foe to the peoples of the Arab nation and the entire region, and will not succeed in stopping its resistance against it by various means and forms," ​​noting that "the attempt to divert the conflict against Iran and portray it as a source of danger to the region is an excuse for dividing the region, plundering its wealth and setting its peoples against each other."
Demonstrations across Palestine against Biden's visit
The Palestinian governorates are witnessing a series of demonstrations taking place in reaction to US President Joe Biden's visit to the region, especially within the 1948 occupied territories.
Political and popular forces called on citizens to gather in various governorates at different times across the occupied territories and to raise the Palestinian flag during those vigils condemning the visit.
The stand against Biden's visit was organized at Al-Manara Roundabout, in the center of Ramallah, with the participation of the PLO factions and the Fatah movement represented by the movement's Secretary, Mowaffaq Sahwi, and member of the Executive Committee of the Liberation Organization, Wasel Abu Yusef, in addition to the participation of hundreds of citizens.
The participants in the demonstration in the center of Ramallah carried placards with slogans condemning Biden's visit to the Palestinian territories, reading: "We will not give up the national rights of our people, and there will be no peace until the occupation ends," "Al-Quds is our eternal capital," and "As long as you are a Zionist you are not welcome."
Political and popular forces had called on citizens to gather in various governorates at separate times and to raise the Palestinian flag during those vigils condemning the visit.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/economics/china-ready-to-help-sri-lanka-overcome-economic-difficulties
China ready to help Sri Lanka overcome economic difficulties: Ministry
Chinese Commerce Ministry Spokesperson Shu Jueting affirmed on Thursday that China is ready to help Sri Lanka cope with economic difficulties and improve people's living conditions.
"China will continue to support Sri Lanka to the best of its ability amid the difficulties that the country is facing so that it can recover its economy as soon as possible and improve people's living conditions," Shu told a briefing.
The Chinese official added that her country is ready to maintain close contact with Sri Lanka and "meet the challenges together."
She added that "We will together maintain a healthy and stable development of relations under our trade agreement [China-Ceylon Rice Rubber Pact signed in 1952]."
Sri Lanka declares state of emergency
Sri Lanka is mired in a political deadlock caused by the country's worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948.
The country witnessed protests against the government which culminated on Saturday, when activists in Colombo took control of the residences of the president and the prime minister, demanding their resignation.
Earlier, the protestors announced ending their occupation of government buildings, vowing to continue their campaign to depose the President and Prime Minister considering the country's catastrophic economic situation.
In April, all 24 ministers of Sri Lanka's cabinet resigned from their posts amid protests and clashes in the capital, Colombo.
The protesters had stormed Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's palace over the weekend, forcing him to leave for the Maldives the next day, and later on, they also stormed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office.
In his absence, Rajapaksa appointed the Premier as Acting President, ordering the evacuation of official buildings and instructing security personnel to do "whatever is necessary to restore order."
Hundreds of thousands of people had sit-ins within the property after Rajapaksa fled and his security guards backed down.
Wickremesinghe claimed on television after thousands of protesters stormed his office in Colombo, "Those who come to my office want to prevent me from carrying out my duty as acting president."
"We can't allow fascists to take over. That is why I declared a nationwide emergency and a curfew," he added.
The Sri Lankan parliament will hold a presidential election on July 20 and appoint a caretaker government, which will remain in power until the next general election.
Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis in seven decades
The political turmoil in Sri Lanka, coupled with the worst economic crisis in seven decades, has been exacerbated by a severe shortage of foreign currency, which has slowed imports of essentials such as fuel, food, and medicines.
The financial crisis arose as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which devastated the tourism-dependent economy and reduced remittances from overseas workers.
The crisis has been exacerbated by the government's massive and growing debt, rising oil prices, and a seven-month ban on importing chemical fertilizers last year, which devastated agriculture.
Petrol has been severely rationed, and long lines have formed in front of cooking gas stores. In order to save fuel, the government has asked people to work from home and has closed schools.
Headline inflation in the 22-million-person country reached 54.6% last month, and the central bank has warned that it could reach 70% in the coming months.
Also: https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/sri-lanka-president-submits-resignation-from-singapore:-offi