The massive fires in Los Angeles could be the most destructive in modern times, according to the Wildfire Alliance.Over a hundred thousand residents have so far been forced to evacuate their homes and five have died as a result of the fires.
On Tuesday, the fire started in western Los Angeles, where the Pacific Palisades area was particularly hard hit. Later, a new fire also broke out in the eastern parts of the city.
So far, around 2,000 buildings have been destroyed in the fire and more than 400,000 households have suffered power cuts, reports the Los Angeles Times. 130,000 residents have been forced to evacuate and the flames have claimed five lives so far.
Yesterday, firefighters in the city were battling the fires, but also stated that their resources are not enough to control the fires. Meanwhile, help is now expected from state, federal and non-governmental authorities.
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Qatar’s Prime Minister calls yesterday’s Israeli attack on Hamas’ political headquarters in Doha “state terrorism” and “treachery”. The attack occurred in the midst of ongoing negotiations with Israeli delegates present in the city.
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani held a press conference yesterday where he sharply condemned the Israeli attack that took place at 3:46 PM local time on Qatari soil.
— The Israeli attack that took place on yesterday on Qatari soil cannot be described as anything but state terrorism, said the Prime Minister, pointing to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as responsible.
According to Al-Thani, the attack is part of Netanyahu’s systematic policy to destabilize the region.
Israel bombs Doha – How many countries Israel is going to attack in the name of so-called self defense! pic.twitter.com/YSgwqSmQa0
— It is a clear message to the entire region that there is a rogue actor engaging in ongoing political recklessness and violations of state sovereignty, he said and added that “Netanyahu himself has declared that he will reshape the Middle East. Is this message also a declaration that he intends to reshape the Gulf?”
In the attack, Lance Corporal Badr Saad Al Dosari from Qatar’s internal security forces was killed. The Prime Minister expressed his condolences to the deceased’s family as well as to the families of other victims of the attack.
Qatar will, according to the Prime Minister, respond firmly to the attack and take all necessary measures. A legal team led by Attorney General Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi has been formed to investigate legal action.
“Can only be described as treachery”
The Prime Minister pointed to the absurdity that Qatar, as a mediator in the conflict, was attacked by Israel while Israeli delegates were present in Doha for talks.
— We are speaking of a mediating state officially hosting negotiations, with official sponsorship and the presence of delegations, only to be struck by missiles from the very state whose delegation was also in Doha for talks, he said.
— By what ethical standard can this be acceptable? This can only be described as treachery, he continued.
According to Al-Thani, the negotiations had made progress in recent days at the request of the United States, which had presented a new proposal. Despite this, he believes that Israel has systematically sabotaged peace efforts.
— Does the world need a clearer message than this? Who is closing the door to peace? Does the international community need more evidence of who the bully in the region really is? the Prime Minister asked rhetorically.
Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has condemned the Israeli strike on Doha as “state terrorism”, warning that Qatar will not tolerate violations of its sovereignty. pic.twitter.com/2V7YX9O47H
When asked whether the Israeli delegation had warned about the attack, the Prime Minister replied that the attack was “100 percent a treacherous operation” that only became known when it occurred.
The United States informed Qatar about the incident ten minutes after the attack took place, according to Al-Thani. He also stated that the Israeli weapons used were not detected by Qatar’s radar defense, unlike previous Iranian missiles that had been successfully handled.
The Prime Minister concluded by assuring that Qatar, despite the attack, will continue to mediate for regional stability – including in talks with Israel. He also announced that the country will now review all security procedures to prevent future attacks.
A video clip now spreading on social media shows British police arresting a man for calling someone a “muppet” – British slang for idiot.
The kafkaesque arrest is seen as yet another example of how police engage in Orwellian thought control instead of fighting real crime – a development that has led increasing numbers to speak of a police state.
Many details surrounding the arrest remain unclear, but when the man in the video asks what he has done, police confirm that “there has been a member of the public who you have apparently been showing calling a muppet”.
The man was arrested under British public order laws that prohibit “offensive” or “insulting” behavior in public – for using a word that in the UK is common slang for describing a foolish person.
A man has been arrested in the UK for calling someone a ‘muppet’
The incident comes shortly after British comedian Graham Linehan was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport by five armed police officers. His “crime” was posting “gender-critical” comments on X.
Linehan was subsequently hospitalized with high blood pressure and has vowed to sue the police for what he describes as an “illegal” arrest.
Author J.K. Rowling was among the few public figures who spoke out for Linehan. She asked what the UK has transformed into and called the arrest “totalitarian”.
“Reject this lunacy”
In response to criticism, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has claimed that the UK has freedom of speech – but many argue that the latest video with the “muppet arrest” disproves this assertion.
US Vice President J.D. Vance has also previously criticized European leaders in sharp terms for suppressing citizens’ freedom of speech.
— Insulting someone is not a crime, and criminalizing speech is going to put real strain on European-US relationships. This is Orwellian, and everyone in Europe and the US must reject this lunacy, he stated after German police conducted over 170 house searches targeting people suspected of insulting the country’s leaders or expressing politically incorrect opinions.
Insulting someone is not a crime, and criminalizing speech is going to put real strain on European-US relationships.
This is Orwellian, and everyone in Europe and the US must reject this lunacy. https://t.co/WZSifyDWMr
The video has sparked widespread criticism on X and other social media platforms.
“The Police need shutting down and starting again. Let’s be honest. They’re corrupted by woke nonsense and have been for decades”, writes user Basil the Great.
Jill M points to the strange priorities: “I love how they send 4, 5, 6 ‘officers’ to arrest 1 person for saying a hurty word. Disgusting. Look how smug they are like they’re saving the public from those dreaded hurty words. Meanwhile, girls & women are attacked by those who shall not be named by hurty words”.
“This seems insane even for Britain”, writes a third person.
User MO wonders: “That’s beyond insane. The UK has gone from policing crime to policing thoughts & feelings. What’s next—prison for sarcasm?”
To which he gets a response: “Prison for sarcasm is not next it has already been several times. Along with silent prayers. unless you are an Islamist’s or a deranged leftist, in that case, you really really have to giantly effe up to face some mild consequences”.
In a highly unusual decision, Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that the government has violated the law by starving Palestinian prisoners.
The court now orders authorities to immediately improve food supply in prisons – a decision that Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir vehemently opposes.
It is extremely rare for Israel’s Supreme Court to take a stand against the government’s violations against Palestinians, but on Sunday came a unanimous decision. The Israeli government has deprived Palestinian prisoners of even the most basic food supply and thereby violates the law, the court ruled.
The court establishes that authorities have a legal obligation to provide Palestinian prisoners with three meals a day to ensure “a basic level of existence”.
“We are not speaking here of comfortable living or luxury, but of the basic conditions of survival as required by law. Let us not share in the ways of our worst enemies”, the judges write in their decision.
61 dead in custody
Since the war against Gaza began in October 2023, at least 61 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody. In March, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy died in prison from what doctors assessed was likely starvation.
Thousands of Palestinians have been imprisoned without charges for alleged connections to militant groups. Those who have been released have testified about brutal conditions with overcrowding, minimal food rations, inadequate healthcare, and scabies outbreaks.
Two Israeli human rights organizations, ACRI and Gisha, describe in their complaint to the court that the government is conducting a “systematic policy” to starve Palestinian prisoners.
Ben-Gvir rages against the ruling
The leader of the Jewish Power party and Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is responsible for the prison system, reacted with fury to the court ruling.
The far-right minister, who has consistently advocated ethnic cleansing and expulsion of the entire Palestinian population, questioned the judges’ loyalty to Israel.
“Are you from Israel?” he asked the judges and accused the Supreme Court of defending Hamas “to our disgrace” while Israeli hostages in Gaza receive no help.
לחטופים שלנו בעזה אין בג״צ שמגן עליהם. לנוחבות הרוצחים, החוטפים והאנסים המתועבים, יש לבושתנו בג״צ שמגן עליהם.
נמשיך לספק למחבלים הכלואים בבתי הסוהר את התנאים המינימליים ביותר הקבועים בחוק.
Ben-Gvir has previously boasted about worsening conditions for Palestinian security prisoners to the absolute minimum. He promised on Sunday that the policy of “the most minimal conditions stipulated by law” would continue unchanged, despite the court’s decision.
Human rights organization ACRI demands that authorities immediately implement the ruling. In a statement, the organization says that those responsible for Israel’s prison system have “turned Israeli prisons into torture camps”.
“A state must not starve people. People must not starve people — no matter what they have done”, the organization states.
A top-secret military operation to wiretap Kim Jong-un went wrong when American elite soldiers shot and killed a group of unarmed fishermen.
To cover their tracks, the soldiers punctured the victims’ lungs with knives so the bodies would sink to the ocean floor.
Navy SEALs from the US elite forces secretly entered North Korea in early 2019 to plant surveillance equipment targeting the country’s leader. But the mission ended in disaster when the soldiers were surprised by – and opened fire on civilian fishermen who were diving for shellfish, reveals the New York Times.
The top-secret mission was carried out by SEAL Team 6’s Red Squadron – the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011. President Donald Trump personally approved the operation during his first term in office.
The mission was so sensitive that it required direct presidential approval. If the American soldiers had been captured on North Korean soil, it could have torpedoed ongoing nuclear weapons negotiations or led to a hostage crisis.
— I don’t know anything about it. I’d have to, I could look, but I know nothing about it. I’m hearing it now for the first time, Trump responded when confronted with the information on Friday.
Months of preparation
The New York Times bases its investigation on interviews with two dozen people, including government officials, members of the Trump administration, and current and former military personnel with insight into the operation.
The elite soldiers trained for months under extreme conditions in ice-cold water. The plan was to deploy from a nuclear-powered American submarine and then reach the North Korean coast in two silent smaller submarines.
A team of approximately eight soldiers would swim for hours through four-degree Celsius seawater wearing diving equipment and heated suits. Once at the coast, they would plant the surveillance equipment and then disappear unnoticed – without any support from overhead drones.
Everything went wrong on the beach
In February 2019, the mission got the green light. Trump was scheduled to meet Kim Jong-un in Vietnam later that month, and the intelligence information could be crucial for the negotiations.
But when the soldiers reached the North Korean shore, everything went wrong. A fishing boat unexpectedly appeared in the darkness. Without the ability to communicate with mission command, and fearing discovery, a group leader in the SEAL team opened fire. The others followed suit and all unarmed civilians aboard the boat were killed.
To cover their tracks, the soldiers dragged the bodies down into the water. With knives, they punctured the victims’ lungs so the bodies would sink to the bottom. The surveillance equipment was never planted and the mission was immediately aborted.
American spy satellites shortly thereafter registered increased military activity from North Korea in the area. However, it remains unclear whether North Korean authorities ever actually understood what had happened to the shellfish divers.
Trump met Kim in Hanoi, February 2019. Photo: White House
Congress was not informed
The summit between Trump and Kim was conducted as planned in Vietnam, but did not lead to any agreement. In May of the same year, North Korea resumed its missile tests.
The secret mission has never been publicly acknowledged before. According to experts the newspaper spoke with, the fact that Congress was not informed – either before or after the operation – may constitute a violation of federal law.
— The point is to ensure that Congress isn’t kept in the dark when major stuff is going on, argues Matthew Waxman, law professor at Columbia University and former security advisor under President George W. Bush.
— This is exactly the kind of thing that would normally be briefed to the committees and something the committees would expect to be told about.
Those involved were promoted
When Joe Biden succeeded Trump as president, the North Korea mission was reviewed again. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III ordered an investigation led by a lieutenant general from the Army’s Inspector General’s office.
In 2021, leading members of Congress were informed about the investigation’s results, but this report remains classified.
Many of those involved in the failed mission have since been promoted, according to the newspaper’s sources.
