Egypt Warns Israel: Rafah Invasion Could Negate '79 Peace Treaty

With Israel on the verge of invading Gaza's southernmost city, Egypt is warning that such a move could trigger a suspension of the treaty that has maintained peace between the two countries since 1979, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday directed the Israeli Defense Forces to plan the evacuation of the city of Rafah, which lies on Gaza's southern border with Egypt and reportedly holds more than a million refugees already forced from their homes elsewhere in the 25-mile-long strip.

One particularly sensitive slice of real estate is the so-called Philadelphi Route or Philadelphi Corridor, which stretches nine miles along the Gaza-Egypt border. Diplomatic accords establish limits on the number of troops that either Israel or Egypt can position in several delineated zones along and near the border, and certainly don't authorize large numbers of Israeli troops and armored vehicles.

In late December, Netanyahu said the Philadelphi Route "has to be in our hands" if Gaza is to be effectively and permanently demilitarized. In January, an Egyptian official said, "It must be strictly emphasized that any Israeli move in this direction will lead to a serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations."

While an Egyptian diplomatic delegation visited Tel Aviv on Friday to discuss the situation in Gaza, Mexican Egyptian President Sisi has rejected several phone calls from Netanyahu over recent weeks, sources tell the Journal.

The threat that large numbers of Palestinian refugees could soon be pouring across the border raises many deep concerns for Egypt. Perhaps more than the challenge of managing a humanitarian crisis, if displaced Palestinians launch attacks on the IDF from Egypt, that could trigger Israeli retaliatory strikes across the border. If Israel doesn't allow the Palestinians to return, tensions between Israel and Egypt would be sharply increased for years to come.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/egypt-warns-israel-rafah-invasion-could-negate-79-peace-treaty

CDC Is Now Retaliating Against Its Own Scientists For 'Wrong' Mask Research

In a congressional hearing last November on restoring trust in science, CDC Director Mandy Cohen kept evading questions on whether she would bring back mask mandates for toddlers.

“We have a lot of different tools to protect our children,” Dr. Cohen said during her cagey response.

Six days later, a BMJ journal published a study that found “mask recommendations for children are not supported by scientific evidence.”

Director Cohen’s scientific bumbling continued last week as her agency began fighting with CDC’s own researchers over another contentious declaration: N95 respirators work better than surgical masks. In recent years, mask advocates have shifted goalposts and demanded N95 respirators, which they claim perform better than surgical masks at stopping the COVID virus.

Not true say CDC’s own scientists, according to CDC documents I uncovered.

During a presentation last summer, a CDC expert stated there was no difference between N95 respirators and masks in stopping viruses. These findings have been supported by CDC scientists in a study CDC published on the agency’s website last November—just a few weeks before Director Cohen testified before Congress.

To shut down this controversy, CDC wrote a blog last week warning researchers that to suggest that facemasks and respirators are the same “is not scientifically correct.”

Soon after the pandemic started, the CDC began promoting masks to stop the spread of COVID. And it did so despite CDC publishing a May 2020 policy study in their own journal “Emerging Infectious Diseases” that did not find a “substantial effect” for masks in stopping the transmission of respiratory viruses.

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/cdc-now-retaliating-against-its-own-scientists-wrong-mask-research

Farmers bring Poland to standstill

Demonstrations have been staged across the country, demanding an end to the flow of cheap Ukrainian produce

Traffic in cities and town across Poland was severely obstructed on Friday as farmers staged protests over what they consider to be unfair competition from cheap Ukrainian produce, as well as the EU’s green policies. Over the past few months, Polish agricultural workers have also repeatedly blocked the border with Ukraine.

The month of January saw similar demonstrations in other EU nations, including Germany, France, and the Netherlands, over Brussels’ climate policies which have led to fuel price hikes. German farmers have been demanding that Chancellor Olaf Scholz reverse the proposed scrapping of a diesel fuel subsidy worth as much as €3,000 ($3,260) annually.

The authorities in neighboring France withdrew plans to cut similar subsidies after farmers blocked a major highway near Paris last month.

Organized by the Solidarity trade union, Friday’s protest affected around 260 localities across Poland, with thousands of farmers blocking or slowing down traffic with tractors and other heavy machinery. They also blocked several border crossings with Ukraine.

Several highways leading to the capital, Warsaw, were congested as a result of the demonstration, local police reported.

In a statement released ahead of the protest last week, Solidarity said it was planning to set up road blockades until March 10. The trade union called out the Polish government for readily accepting the EU’s guidelines on the “import of agricultural produce and food products from Ukraine.” The protesters also called the position adopted by Brussels at the latest EU summit “unacceptable.”

Similar rallies were held across Poland in January.

A separate protest by another group of farmers and truckers blocking a key border crossing with Ukraine saw Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government capitulate to the protesters’ demands, which included reinstating a permit system for Ukrainian truckers, adopting government subsidies for Polish corn, and a moratorium on tax hikes.

Last Thursday, the European Commission proposed extending the suspension of customs duties on agricultural goods from Ukraine and Moldova through 2025. The measure was originally scheduled to expire this year.

Thousands of farmers from across the bloc descended on Brussels ahead of that summit, throwing eggs, rocks, and fireworks at the EU Parliament building and setting huge piles of manure on fire.

https://www.rt.com/news/592279-poland-farmers-protest-ukraine-eu/

CEO of major Nigerian bank killed in helicopter crash

The head of Access Bank Group, Herbert Wigwe, was aboard a helicopter that went down in California in the US on Friday

The CEO of Access Bank Group, one of Nigeria’s top financial institutions, Herbert Wigwe, perished in a helicopter crash near Nipton in southern California on Friday. Five more people who were also aboard the aircraft have been confirmed dead.

According to a statement released by the US Federal Aviation Administration, the Eurocopter EC 130 helicopter went down at around 10pm local time. It added that it would launch an investigation into the incident in conjunction with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported that the crash occurred near the border between Nevada and California. “It has been confirmed all six people on board the aircraft are deceased,” the authorities wrote without revealing their identities.

Prominent Nigerian-American economist and World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala claimed on Sunday in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that along with Wigwe, his wife and son were also killed in the crash. She added that the former president of the Nigerian stock exchange, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, also lost his life in the crash.

At a press conference on Saturday night, Michael Graham, a representative of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters that the charter flight operated by Orbic Air LLC was on the way to Boulder City, Nevada.

According to the official, several eyewitnesses reported adverse weather conditions at the time of the crash. They also mentioned seeing fire aboard the helicopter as well as downed power lines, Graham added.

“This is the beginning of a long process. We will not jump to any conclusions,” the NTSB representative said, adding that the helicopter was not required to have a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder.

Wigwe, who was 57, was widely seen as a leading figure in Nigeria’s banking sector. Established in 1989, his Access Bank became the largest in the country in 2018. Apart from acquiring other lenders at home, the financial institution has also been working to expand across other African nations in recent years, with plans to also launch a new banking service in Asia this year.

On top of that, Wigwe had served as executive director at another leading Nigerian bank, Guaranty Trust Bank. He was also working on opening his own university in Nigeria later this year.

https://www.rt.com/africa/592269-nigerian-bank-ceo-dead-helicopter-crash-california/

X Bans Prominent Anti-Zionist Organization

The so-called 'free speech' platform has banned a popular anti-Zionist NGO without notice

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, X banned the account Defund Isreal Now, a non-governmental organization advocating for the Palestinian people against the ethno-imperialistic actions of Zionist Israel.

The nonprofit amassed a wide audience after the retaliation from Israel to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Jewish NGOs, acting similarly to Defund Israel Now, have yet to receive any retribution. That may be due to the supposed rise in antisemitism on the platform, prompting Musk to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp, accompanied by Ben Shapiro.

The perceived rise in antisemitism can be attributed to the growing isolationist and nationalist movements across the globe, particularly within the US, as its citizens are expected to ally themselves with Israeli action. These “antisemitic” acts within the tally include anti-Zionist sentiments. The two terms have been conflated to garner protection to the ethno-religious philosophy.

Still, that will not stop Jewish nonprofits and billionaires from coming down on an individual as hard as possible.

Dr. Eli David of Deep Instinct, a data protection company based in Tel Aviv and New York, is a wealthy Jewish Zionist entrepreneur who has felt it within his respects to coerce the banning and censoring of all opposition. According to Notus, he is second-ranked, behind Elon Musk, as “founders building empires, one tweet at a time.”

David posts extensively on the war in Gaza from the Zionist perspective, but he has also made a point to eliminate any possible counter-information. Feb. 5, he wrote to X and its officials to remove Defund Israel Now. Less than five full days later, the anti-Zionist account was removed, for which he championed Elon’s continued steps towards censorship

https://nationalfile.com/x-bans-prominent-anti-zionist-organization/

NATO Chief Warns Conflict With Russia Could Last ‘Decades’, Demands West Increase Arms Production

The West needs to prepare for the conflict with Russia to last for “decades” and therefore must ramp up arms production quickly, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

“NATO is not looking for war with Russia. But we have to prepare ourselves for a confrontation that could last decades,” Stoltenberg warned this weekend in an interview with Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Thus, the NATO chief called for Western nations to increase production of weapons and ammunition, claiming that this is the only way in which Europe’s safety can be guaranteed and for Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance, to continue its war with Russia. European market economies need to ink more deals with defence

“The economy and industrial strength of the West far dwarfs that of Russia. So we have the means to surpass Russia in both production and investment,” the former Norwegian prime minister said, explaining that if the current opportunity is missed, Russia would benefit and Europe’s security would be at risk.

Despite Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s insistence during the interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson that Moscow has no intention of invading Poland, acknowledging that such a move would spark a Third World War, Stoltenberg warned that “if Putin wins in Ukraine, there is no guarantee that Russian aggression will not spread to other countries.”

The best defence for Europe then, he argued, is to invest in the militaries of Ukrainian and NATO members, saying: “Deterrence only works if it is credible. As long as we invest in our own security and remain united, we will continue to deter any form of aggression.”

The left-wing globalist politician said that he recognised that many European nations prefer to spend money on socialised medicine, welfare programmes, and education, but said that “our schools, our hospitals and our industries are also protected by our armed forces. That’s why it’s important to continue investing in our security.”

Many European nations, most notably Germany, the continent’s top economy, have long failed to live up to their NATO spending commitments, which require every member state to devote at least two per cent of their respective GDP towards military funding.

This issue was persistently raised by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who chided Germany for signing large oil and gas deals with Russia while demanding that American taxpayers foot the bill to protect them from potential Moscow aggression.

Trump’s lobbying efforts to pressure NATO allies to finally meet their obligations, which were often characterised in the legacy media as threatening the stability of the alliance, were credited by Secretary General Stoltenberg in 2019 as having been instrumental in convincing Europe and Canada to increase their NATO spending by $100 billion.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/02/11/nato-chief-warns-conflict-with-russia-could-last-decades-demands-west-increase-arms-production/

Russia Launches Dozens of Drone Strikes in Five Hour Barrage on Ukraine

Russian forces launched 45 drones over Ukraine Sunday in a five-and-a-half-hour barrage, officials said, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued the reshuffle of his war cabinet as the war enters its third year.

In a statement, the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 40 of the Iranian-made Shahed drones over nine different regions, including on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Kyiv.

The five-and-a-half-hour attack targeted agricultural facilities and coastal infrastructure, officials for Ukraine’s southern defense forces wrote on Telegram. They said that a strike in the Mykolaiv region had injured one person, sparking a fire and damaging nearby residential buildings.

Kyiv announced Sunday that former deputy defense minister Lt. Gen. Alexander Pavlyuk would become the new commander of Ukrain’s ground forces. The post was previously held by Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was named Thursday as the replacement for Ukraine’s outgoing military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

New presidential decrees also named Yurii Sodol, the former head of Ukraine’s marine corps, as the new commander of Ukraine’s combined forces; Brig. Gen. Ihor Skibiuk as commander of Ukraine’s air assault forces; and Maj. Gen. Ihor Plahuta as commander of Ukraine’s territorial defense forces.

ncoming commander-in-chief Syrskyi has signaled that his immediate goals include improving troop rotation at the front lines and harnessing the power of new technology at a time when Kyiv´s forces are largely on the defensive.

In a statement on Telegram Saturday, Zelenskyy said that he hoped to “reboot” the upper levels of Ukraine´s armed forces with experienced combat commanders.

“Now, people who are well-known in the army and who themselves know well what the army needs are taking on new responsibilities,” he said.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/02/11/russia-launches-dozens-of-drone-strikes-in-five-hour-barrage-on-ukraine/

Former Dutch Prime Minister and Wife Die Together in Dual Euthanasia Procedure

Former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt and his wife committed legally assisted suicide by simultaneous euthanasia this week, the non-profit organisation founded by the ex-Dutch leader has revealed.

Public broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) reported on Friday that former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt (93), who led the Netherlands from 1977 to 1982, and his wife Eugenie van Agt (93) opted on Monday to take their lives in a joint act of euthanasia, which is legally permitted under medical supervision in the Western European nation.

Gerard Jonkman, the director of The Rights Forum non-profit founded by Van Agt in 2009, said that the former prime minister had discussed the option of assisted suicide after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2019, saying that he said it was an “option if life and suffering became unbearable.”

Since then, Van Agt’s health, as well as his wife’s, steadily declined, according to Jonkman, who said: “His health became more and more fragile, and he wanted to focus his attention on his wife, children and grandchildren.” He said that their decision to commit assisted suicide hand in hand came from a feeling that they “couldn’t live without each other”.

The couple, who were married for seven decades, were buried together on Thursday. The Dutch public broadcaster noted that assisted suicide was a curious decision by Van Agt, given that he was a lifelong Roman Catholic — a faith which preaches against suicide — and a former member of the socially conservative Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

However, Jonkman noted that the former prime minister was always “idiosyncratic” and that Van Agt “never checked whether his own views are completely in line with those of a party or institution.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/02/11/former-dutch-prime-minister-and-wife-die-together-in-dual-euthanasia/