Earthquake rattles Queens, may have caused Roosevelt Island explosions

An earthquake rattled parts of Queens Tuesday morning and may have sparked a series of underground explosions reported on Roosevelt Island, city officials said.

“The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports that a 1.7 magnitude earthquake has occurred near Astoria, Queens,” Notify NYC reported. “The earthquake has reportedly been felt in the New York City area, but there are no reports of injuries or damage in New York City at this time.”

Residents of both Manhattan and Queens reported hearing multiple explosions just before 6 a.m. centered Main St. in Roosevelt Island just south of the Roosevelt Island Bridge to Queens. Callers reported that at least one building near the explosion shook, an FDNY spokesman said.

Firefighters arrived and found no flames and no one injured. The explosion, which may be electrical, appeared to have occurred underground.

The FDNY handed the job over to Con Edison, which was investigating. Residents were told to avoid the area as the probe continued.

No power outages have been reported, a Con Edison spokesman said.

Earthquakes below 2.5 magnitude are very small and are usually not felt by most people, although they do show up on seismographs.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2024/01/earthquake-rattles-queens-may-have-caused-roosevelt-island-explosions/

ISRAELI ARMY CONTINUOUS STRIKES, GROUND OPERATIONS IN GAZA (VIDEOS)

On January 3, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) provided details on some of its recent operations against the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the IDF said that in a school in the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a, troops from the 5th Brigade found a tunnel shaft, along with laminated photos of weaponry. The brigade also struck several Hamas sites in the area, including observation and missile launch positions.

Troops from the Givati Brigade spotted a Hamas fighter attempting to place an explosive device on an Israeli tank in the city of Khan Younis, also in southern Gaza, according to the IDF. The troops directed an aircraft to strike the fighter, along with three others who were in the area.

In addition, Givati troops found weapons and a safe with hundreds of thousands of shekels in the home of a Hamas Nukhba force fighter.

Also in Khan Younis, the IDF said that troops from the Kfir Brigade directed an airstrike on a weapons manufacturing plant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Meanwhile in northern Gaza, troops from the Nahal Brigade identified a Hamas cell operating drones in the area of Gaza City’s Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, in order to observe Israeli forces. The IDF said that the cell was eliminated in a drone strike.

The IDF also announced the death of another service member in Gaza. He was identified as Sergeant First Class Meiron Moshe Gersch, 21, from Petah Tikva.

Gersch, a member of the Combat Engineering Corps’ elite Yahalom unit, was the 174th soldier to be killed during the IDF’s ground operations in Gaza.

After occupying much of northern Gaza, the IDF shifted ground operations in recent weeks to the central and southern parts of the Strip. Despite expanding its control within the Palestinian enclave, Hamas and other armed factions continue to show fierce resistance and are in fact improving their tactics.

https://southfront.press/israeli-army-continuous-strikes-ground-operations-in-gaza-videos/

AP Quietly Reveals Donation From Foreign Group That Trains Journalists as Climate Change ‘Activists’

The KR Foundation, a Danish nonprofit that seeks the "rapid phase-out of fossil fuels," gave the equivalent of $300,000, to the Associated Press in December 2022, according to the charity’s annual report. Though the AP says it is committed to the "highest practicable degree of transparency" regarding its backers, the news outlet added the KR Foundation to its list of current philanthropic supporters only this month, according to a Washington Free Beacon review of the AP website.

It’s the latest left-wing charity to fund the Associated Press, which says it is read by four billion people each day. Philanthropies that support packing the Supreme Court, defunding the police, and other left-wing initiatives have contributed millions of dollars to the AP in recent years, the Free Beacon reported.

The KR Foundation sees media outlets as prime targets to push its climate agenda. It funds media outlets to "significantly" influence "the media narrative around climate policy." Its grant to the Associated Press, which extends through December 2024, is to be used for the wire service’s Global Scholars Network.

https://freebeacon.com/media/ap-quietly-reveals-donation-from-foreign-group-that-trains-journalists-as-climate-change-activists/

UNDETERRED: HOUTHIS ATTACK ANOTHER SHIP HEADING TO ISRAEL IN RED SEA

On January 3, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen announced that they had “targeted” a cargo ship that was sailing through the Red Sea towards Israel.

Brigade General Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the Houthis, said in a video statement aired by the Sanaa-based Al Masirah TV that the ship, CMA CGM Tage, was attacked after ignoring warnings.

“The operation came after the ship’s crew refused to respond to calls from our forces, including fiery warning messages,” he said.

The Houthis, who control much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, are a part of the so-called Axis of Resistance that is backed by Iran and opposes Israel.

The group has fired several missiles and drones at the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip. It also assaulted a number of Israeli-related ships and announced a blockade on all ships heading to Israel.

Brig. Gen. Sari stressed in his statement that the Houthis will continue to prevent Israeli ships or those heading to Israel from sailing in the Red Sea and Arab Sea until food and medicine aid are allowed to enter the Gaza Strip.

He also warned that “any United State attack [against Yemen] will not pass without a response or punishment” by the Houthis.

In response to the Houthis’ claims, French container shipping giant CMA CGM SA said in a statement that “the vessel did not suffer any incident” and was sailing through the Red Sea toward the port of Alexandria, at the northern end of Egypt’s Suez Canal.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a British naval detachment, reported that a vessel came under attack at around the time the CMA CGM Tage would have been passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

UKMTO didn’t name the carrier. However, it said there were reports of up to three explosions one to five nautical miles from a merchant carrier.

Later, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X, previously known as Twitter, that “Iranian-backed Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen into the southern Red Sea.” It added that multiple commercial ships in the area reported the impact of the missiles into the surrounding water though none reported any damage.

This was the 24th attack by the Houthis against merchant shipping in the southern Red Sea since November 19, according to CENTCOM.

The U.S. responded to recent Houthi attacks by launching Operation Prosperity Guardian on December 18 to “ensure the safety of maritime traffic” in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and Gulf of Aden.

On December 31, helicopters of the U.S.-led coalition sank three boats of the Houthis that attacked a container ship off Yemen’s shores, killing at least ten fighters. The deadly engagement heightened tensions between Washington and the Houthis.

https://southfront.press/undeterred-houthis-attack-another-ship-heading-to-israel-in-red-sea/

NYT's 'Hamas Mass Rapes' Story Implodes as 'Sister of Victim Says There is No Proof That She Was Raped'

The New York Times' exhaustive investigation seeking to prove Hamas committed mass rape on October 7 imploded on Tuesday after the one piece of physical "evidence" they produced was trashed by the victim's own sister.

Israel had over two and half months to produce evidence that Hamas fighters (who filmed their invasion with GoPros) committed "mass rapes" on October 7 and yet all they had to show for it was one "grainy video" of a possibly half-disrobed woman who was burnt to a crisp after most likely being killed by an Israeli Apache helicopter.

The Israeli government previously did not claim the woman identified by the Times as 34-year-old Gal Abdush was raped on their website "Hamas-Massacre.net" but only that she was killed on the side of the street by "terrorists."

I found a second photo of the same woman on the Israeli government's website "Hamas-Massacre[.]net" but but it was filed under their section "Terrorists raiding the streets" and not their section on "Hamas Rapes."

The photo is captioned, "Woman killed and left on the street." pic.twitter.com/ZjhEDNSFNr

— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) December 29, 2023

I managed to track down the video as well a second photo of her body and reported last week that the video is too blurry to even show whether her privates were exposed but was clear enough to show her face was burnt to a crisp and her car was destroyed most likely as a result of an Israeli Apache helicopter unloading on her vehicle under the "Hannibal Directive."

The key takeaways from the video are:

1. It is not even clear from the video if her privates are exposed as the video quality is quite poor.

1. Judging from the state of her horrifically burned upper body, melted face and the destroyed state of her car, odds are overwhelming… pic.twitter.com/xp1VayV9qF

— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) December 29, 2023

On Tuesday, Gal Abdush's own sister came forward to reveal the Times lied to their family about the story and said there's no evidence her sister was raped.

BREAKING: GAL ABDUAH’S SISTER DENIES RAPE CLAIMS IN NYT ARTICLE AND SAYS NYT MANIPULATED THE FAMILY

They had no knowledge the article was going to be about rape and were under the impression it was going to be about Gal ABDUAH’S memory. pic.twitter.com/g6EGS7VXyt

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) January 2, 2024

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=64215

Imam is shot and left critically wounded while heading to morning prayers outside mosque in New Jersey

Imam Hassan Sharif was gunned down on Wednesday morning outside of the Masjid Muhammad mosque in Newark, New Jersey

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12922961/Imam-shot-New-Jersey-mosque.html

Gateway Faggot is busted running cover for Israel

Convicted Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell Breaks Silence on Epstein Associate List Release, Blames Gender Inequality: ‘It’s About Men Abusing Women for Years, Yet Only a Woman is Jailed’

During a recent interview by her attorney, Ghislaine Maxwell, the former socialite serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes breaks her silence.

Her remarks come ahead of a significant court document release expected to name over a hundred individuals connected to Epstein.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Judge Loretta A. Preska issued a new order today. The order, referenced as document number 1319, was entered on January 3, 2024.

On December 18, Judge Preska ruled to disclose certain names associated with the Epstein case. She initially provided a 14-day period for any affected individuals to file appeals.

Apart from the documents concerning Doe 107 and Doe 110, the order states that the other unsealed records, as outlined in the December 18 Order, will begin to be filed by the involved parties later today.

Arthur Aidala, Maxwell’s legal representative, conveyed her sentiments on NewsNation’s Cuomo, crying about the gender dynamics involved in the scandal. Maxwell herself refrained from commenting directly on the impending unmasking of associates but instead chose to blame what she perceives as a gender-based disparity in accountability.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/convicted-sex-trafficker-ghislaine-maxwell-breaks-silence-epstein/

Watch: "Guerrilla Camps" Set Up By Leftist Groups Assist Cartels In Southern Border Invasion

Real America's Voice host Ben Bergquam published a video on social media platform X that exposes what is described as a 'guerrilla camp' on the southern border, operated by radical leftist groups, which are aiding in the illegal migrant invasion by cartels.

"OK, here is the whole video. You have to watch it all - it just gets worse and worse! Leftists caught directly aiding and abetting the invasion of our country the wall in Sasabe, Arizona," Bergquam wrote on X.

He continued: " These are some of the same people that we previously exposed harboring illegals at their camp in Arivaca. How do we save our country when we allow enemies within to do this? When we take power back, these organizations must be defunded and prosecuted."

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/watch-gorilla-camps-set-leftist-groups-assist-cartels-southern-border-invasion

Washington Post erases Israeli minister’s farfetched October 7 rape claim at his request

A note explaining the retraction of the claim that Hamas militants had specific orders as to “which commander should rape which soldiers” indicates the publication censored itself at the behest of the Israeli government.

The Washington Post has quietly removed an outlandish claim by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that Hamas battle plans included specific instructions on which Israeli troops should be raped during their October 7 incursion.

In the original article, which was published on November 12 and promoted as a Washington Post “exclusive,” Gallant is quoted as telling the outlet: “We know from interrogations that Hamas came in with detailed plans of their attack, including which commander should rape which soldiers in different places.”

A day later, the allegation disappeared from the piece, which had been amended to include the following “correction”:

“A previous version of this article included a quote from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that was not authorized for publication. The quote has been removed.”

The act of self-censorship was seemingly first spotted by a social media user who suggested that the embarrassing incident was the result of what they described as “the Israeli way” of propaganda: “Privately lying to a journalist to shape her coverage, then scrambling to correct the record when the journalist accidentally prints the lies you told her in confidence.”

WaPo had a story in November that originally included an insane quote from Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: "Hamas came in with detailed plans of their attack, including which commander should rape which soldier in different places," which they removed at Israel's request pic.twitter.com/fqp8Sz6Ey3

— 12 Ball (@BoltzmannBooty) January 2, 2024

So far, not a single supposed victim of what one Associated Press headline insisted were “‘widespread’ sexual crimes by Hamas” on October 7 has come forward to publicly testify about the allegations. But this has not stopped senior US administration officials from accepting Israeli claims at face value.

US President Joseph Biden has condemned as “appalling” what he described as “reports of women raped — repeatedly raped — and their bodies being mutilated while still alive — of women’s corpses being desecrated, Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them.”

But as The Grayzone has revealed, many of the most incendiary claims of sexual violence appear to have been fabricated by Israeli soldiers or members of ultra-Orthodox “rescue organizations” which immediately exploited their newfound prominence to raise millions of dollars.

Further, many residents of frontline kibbutzim and attendees of the Nova music festival were killed by Israeli forces.

https://thegrayzone.com/2024/01/03/washington-post-erases-israels-request/

Sydney New Year's Eve: Millions of Aussies are warned they may have been exposed to deadly legionnaires' disease

Outbreak of legionnaires' disease in Sydney CBD

Millions told to monitor for symptoms

Millions of people who visited Sydney's CBD over Christmas and New Years are being urged to stay alert for symptoms of legionnaires' disease after seven people were diagnosed with the debilitating lung illness.

NSW Health issued a health alert on Wednesday for anyone who visited the city centre since Christmas Eve, or the past 10 days, to monitor for symptoms including coughing, fever, shortness of breath and headaches.

It comes after three women and four men, aged from their 20s to 70s, were admitted to hospital with pneumonia before being identified to have been carrying the legionella bacteria, which causes legionnaires' disease.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12921773/Sydney-New-Years-Eve-legionnaires-disease.html

Massive offshore wind project that was to be operational in 2023 gets a single turbine running

The turbine, one of 62, was producing 5 megawatts out of a total of 800 megawatts planned. The developers had said as late as last week the project would be operating by 2023.

Vineyard Wind, a massive offshore wind project 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, failed to deliver electricity in 2023 as its developers had pledged to do, but they announced Wednesday that one of the project’s 62 turbines was running.

The project’s developers had for years been selling the project as the first utility-scale offshore wind project in the country, based on the 2023 timeline, according to Statehouse News. In December, New York’s South Fork Wind became the nation’s first.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid, Inc. announced Wednesday that it had managed to get one of the project’s 62 turbines operational, supplying 5 of its 800 megawatts to the grid.

The Commonwealth Beacon reported Tuesday that the developers had missed its 2023 pledge, which they were promising to meet late last week.

Two days into the new year, the Beacon reported, the developers of the $4 billion project still had not made good on the promise.

A spokesperson for Avangrid told the Beacon Tuesday that the company was “working through all the required tests” and was expected to deliver power soon.

During an August boat tour of the project site, Sy Oytan, Avangrid COO told reporters and lawmakers that the project would be generating up to 300 megawatts by the end of 2023, and then it would be fully operational by the middle of 2024.

Rhode Island’s Block Island Wind Farm, which began providing power in 2016, was the first operational offshore wind farm in the U.S., but with five turbines, it’s not considered commercial scale, according to the Associated Press.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/massive-offshore-wind-project-was-be-operational-2023-gets-single-turbine

>>20177350

Notable

>>20177473

Yep.

Epstein's full flight logs - UNREDACTED

https://archive.org/details/epstein-flight-logs-unredacted_202304

Prominent Lobbyist and a Political Consultant Agree to Deferred Prosecution for Not Disclosing their PR Work for an Embassy of a Foreign Government

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/prominent-lobbyist-and-political-consultant-agree-deferred-prosecution-not-disclosing

Former EKU Professor Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Produce Child Pornography

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edky/pr/former-eku-professor-pleads-guilty-attempting-produce-child-pornography

Former Georgia Bankers Association accountant sentenced to two years in prison

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/former-georgia-bankers-association-accountant-sentenced-two-years-prison

DOUBLE STANDARDS IN ACTION: EU SAYS CIVILIAN DEATHS IN RUSSIA ARE OK

The West has once again applied double standards, confirming the hypocrisy of its true position on human rights. On January 3, the French Foreign Ministry refused to condemn the Ukrainian attack on civilians in the very center of Belgorod (25 civilians killed, more than 110 wounded), calling them “legitimate defense.” In its turn, the EU claimed that the deaths of civilians in Russian cities are nothing but Russian propaganda.

Russia requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on December 30 after the shelling of Belgorod. Moscow insisted on the presence of the permanent representative of the Czech Republic at the meeting, so that he would explain the supply of ammunition, which kills civilians, by his country. In his turn, the Czech Foreign Minister stoop so low as declaring his unwillingness to support ‘Russian propaganda’ and explain anything.

It smells like real Nazism. Crying about the fake genocide in Ukraine, the EU leaders decide that Russian deaths are acceptable. Thus, the Kiev regime is given a green light to continue attacks on civilians using NATO weapons, targeted under the command of the NATO military and with the support of the Western politicoes.

The Kiev regime and its puppeteers attempt to provoke Russia and force it launch retaliation attacks on the Ukrainian civilians, so that they could find at least some evidence of the ‘genocide’ and justify their policies.

The West has been supporting Kiev’s war against the population of the Donbass for decade. Its leaders proudly confirmed that they hypocritically signed the Minsk agreements to arm Kiev and tried their best to instigate this war. The EU population is paying for their war, while their politicians are sacrificing the prosperity of their countries in an attempt to harm the ‘cruel Russians’.

The double standards of the West do not surprise anyone anymore. Today, they are also fueling the devastating war in the Gaza Strip and the destruction of the Palestinians. Washington and Brussels have already ruined the international security system in an attempt to make it serve their interests, perverting their discourses to manipulate the population. The war starts when diplomacy ends. While Europeans are paying with money, the puppets in Ukraine are paying with lives and statehood of their ruined country.

https://southfront.press/double-standards-in-action-eu-says-civilian-deaths-in-russia-are-ok/