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Iran fires 181 missiles at Israel; PM: They made a ‘big mistake’ and ‘will pay for it’

IAF, along with US and Jordan, intercept most of the projectiles; 1 Palestinian killed, 2 Israelis hurt; IDF says no harm to ‘competence’ of Air Force as some missiles target bases

By Lazar Berman Follow
and Emanuel Fabian Follow
1 October 2024, 11:31 Footage shows an Iranian missile attack on Israel, October 1, 2024. (Reuters/Anadolu Agency/Ahikam Seri/AFPTV/AFP)

Iran fired a massive salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night, sending almost 10 million people into bomb shelters as projectiles and interceptors exploded in the skies above.

Soon after the attack, which was largely unsuccessful, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran that it had made “a big mistake” and “will pay for it.”

Some 181 missiles were launched in the strike, according to Israeli officials. The Israel Defense Forces said that it intercepted “a large number” of them.

One Palestinian in the West Bank was reported killed and two Israelis were injured by falling shrapnel and debris that had caused damage and started fires in the area.

Explosions could be heard across much of Israel, from Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. Reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts.

One rocket impacted a school in Gadera, in central Israel, and photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the school building, although nobody was injured. Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, the Home Front Command chief, visited the site of the impact alongside first responders.

Israelis take cover inside a bomb shelter in central Israel during an Iranian missile attack, October 1, 2024. (Dor Pazuelo/Flash90)

Israel’s air defenses were “effective,” the IDF said. The US also participated in the defense of Israel, both by detecting the threat from Iran ahead of time and intercepting some of the missiles, according to the military.

The IDF said there were “isolated” impacts in central Israel and several more impacts in southern Israel. It emphasized that there was no damage to the “competence” of the Israeli Air Force in the attack, and said the IAF’s planes, air defenses, and air traffic control were operating normally.

People take cover on the side of the road as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles from Iran on a freeway in Shoresh, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

At a security cabinet meeting in a secure bunker near Jerusalem in the aftermath of the attack, Netanyahu warned that Tehran had made a “big mistake tonight” and vowed that “it will pay for it.”

The strike on Israel had “failed,” he said, and was “thwarted thanks to Israel’s air defense system, which is the most advanced in the world.”

He thanked the US for its support as well.

Image taken from video shows missiles fired from Iran being intercepted over Jerusalem, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP)

“The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies,” said Netanyahu. “[Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and [top Hamas military commander Mohammed] Deif did not understand this, [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah and [Hezbollah chief of staff Fuad] Shukr did not understand this, and there are probably those in Tehran who do not understand this.”

“They will understand,” he threatened, stressing that “whoever attacks us — we will attack him.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a statement to the public following an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel, October 1, 2024. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

He added that this had been the case wherever Israel fights “the axis of evil” — in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iran.

Calling for “the forces of light in the world” to unite against Tehran, the premier urged them to “stand by Israel.”

“The choice has never been clearer between tyranny and freedom, between blessing and curse,” he said.

“Israel is on the move, and the axis of evil is retreating,” Netanyahu insisted. “We will do everything necessary to continue this trend, to achieve all the goals of the war, primarily the return of all our hostages, and to ensure our existence and our future.”

Iran said it fired the missiles into Israel in retaliation for attacks that killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military. It referenced Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike last week in Beirut. It also mentioned Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader in Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran in a suspected Israeli attack in July.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted three military bases.

Israeli police work at a damaged school building that was hit by missiles fired from Iran in Gedera, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP/Tsafrir Abayov)

A senior Iranian official told Reuters the order to launch missiles at Israel had been made by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei remains in a secure location, the senior official added.

A previous attack using 300 missiles and drones in April — the first ever direct Iranian on Israel — was thwarted with the help of the US military and other allies. Israel responded at the time with airstrikes in Iran, but wider escalation was averted.

US President Joe Biden speaks during a briefing on the government’s response to Hurricane Helene in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, as Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, left, and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, right, look on. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

US President Joe Biden directed the US military to aid Israel’s defense against the Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles that are targeting Israel, the White House said.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris monitored the attack from the White House Situation Room, said the statement.

A Palestinian from Gaza was reported killed by shrapnel in Jericho in the West Bank.

While only two people were reportedly lightly wounded in Israel proper from shrapnel, videos and photos circulating on social media showed a number of craters caused by impacts.

Members of Israel’s Home Front Command and police forces inspect a crater left by a Iranian missle at a heavily-damaged school building in southern Israel on October 1, 2024. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

Shortly after midnight, the IDF Home Front Command announced that it was easing restrictions in central Israel, the Jerusalem area, and some parts of northern Israel following the attack.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters earlier in the night that the IAF “continues to operate at full capacity, and tonight will also continue to strike powerfully in the Middle East, as has been the case for the past year.”

“The Israeli and US air defense systems operated effectively. There was close cooperation in detection and interception,” he said.

An anti-missile system fires interceptors at missiles fired from Iran, as seen in the West Bank on October 1, 2024. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

“We are still investigating [the result of the attack] and do not want to give the enemy all the information,” Hagari said.

“Iran carried out a serious act tonight and is pushing the Middle East to an escalation. We will act at the place and time of our choosing, in accordance with the guidance of the political echelon,” he continued.

“Tonight’s event will have consequences.”

Israelis take cover inside a bomb shelter at the Ben Gurion airport as a siren alert is sounded amid an Iranian missile attack in Tel Aviv, October 1, 2024. (Dor Pazuelo/Flash90)

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, however, said that if Israel retaliated Tehran’s response would be “more crushing and ruinous.”

American forces are ready to provide “additional defensive support” to Israel after helping protect it during an Iranian missile attack, a US defense official said.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated the US’s commitment to Israel’s safety in a call with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the aftermath of the attack, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said during a briefing.

Austin reaffirmed the US’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s defense and stressed that the US remains well-postured in the Middle East to defend American assets and to defend Israel.

Ryder also told reporters that Iran launched about twice as many ballistic missiles on Tuesday as it did in its previous direct attack on Israel in April.

Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said its air defenses intercepted missiles and drones as Iran attacked Israel, just as it had done in April.

“The Royal Jordanian Air Force and air defense systems responded to a number of missiles and drones that entered Jordanian airspace,” a statement said.

There was widespread international condemnation of the strikes.

Hamas praised Iran’s missile attack, saying it was in revenge for the killings of Hamas leader Haniyeh and Hezbollah chief Nasrallah.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] blesses the heroic rocket launches carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran against wide areas of our occupied lands,” a statement said, adding it was “in revenge for the blood of our heroic martyrs.”

Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles launched from Iran over Hadera, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Iran-backed Iraqi militias said that if the US took part in “any hostile action” against Iran, then American interests in the region would be under threat.

The statement from the group calling itself the Coordination Committee for the Iraqi Resistance also warned Israel against using Iraqi airspace to retaliate against Iran, saying “all American bases and interests in Iraq and the region will be our target.”

The Iranian attack came after the IDF launched a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon overnight Monday-Tuesday.

Israeli armored vehicles seen in a staging area in northern Israel near the Israel-Lebanon border, October 1, 2024. (AP/Baz Ratner)

Amid the US warnings of the imminent Iranian attack, received by Israel earlier in the day,  Netanyahu spoke of “days of great challenges” ahead. In a video statement, he urged unity in Israel, and asked the public to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command.

Iran did not give the United States prior notice of its attack on Israel, Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said.

Earlier in the evening, the Home Front Command had issued instructions to residents of the central area of Israel, known as Gush Dan, warning them to remain “nearby” a bomb shelter or other protected area until further notice, following reports of an imminent Iranian attack.

Three Israeli officials quoted anonymously by The New York Times said that Iran would likely target three military air bases, and “an intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv,” which it said has been evacuated.

The US embassy in Jerusalem issued a security warning telling its employees and their families “to shelter in place until further notice.”

Earlier, the Pentagon said the US was boosting its forces in the Middle East by a “few thousand” troops, by bringing in new units while extending others that are already there.

“A certain number of units already deployed to the Middle East region… will be extended, and the forces due to rotate into theater to replace them will now instead augment” those that are already there, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists on Monday.

In this photo released by the US Navy, the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge sail in formation as part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian M. Wilbur, U.S. Navy via AP)

“These augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F-22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said, later adding that there will be “an additional few thousand” personnel in the region as a result.

The US Central Command announced Tuesday that three additional squadrons of warplanes were arriving in the region, while one was already present.

Agencies contributed to this report. 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/syrian-air-defences-intercept-hostile-targets-over-vicinity-of-damascus/

Syrian air defences intercept ‘hostile targets’ over vicinity of Damascus

By Reuters1 October 2024, 2:28 am

• Syrian air defenses intercepted “hostile targets” over the vicinity of Damascus, following an explosion that was heard in the capital, state media says.
• s
• Turkey’s Erdogan says UN should recommend use of force if Israel not stopped
  By Reuters
  September 30, 202410:59 AM PDTUpdated a day ago
  
  
  Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 24, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
  , opens new tab
  ANKARA, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the United Nations General Assembly should recommend the use of force, in line with a resolution it passed in 1950, if the U.N. Security Council fails to stop Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.
  NATO member Turkey has denounced Israel’s devastating attack in Gaza against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and condemned its recent attacks in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah militants. It has halted all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court, which Israel rejects.
  
  “The U.N. General Assembly should rapidly implement the authority to recommend the use of force, as it did with the 1950 Uniting for Peace resolution, if the Security Council can’t show the necessary will,” Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.
  The resolution says the U.N. General Assembly can step in if disagreements among the Security Council’s five permanent veto-wielding powers – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – mean they fail to maintain international peace.
• IDF shoots down suspected drone fired from east, as sirens sound near Eilat
• By Emanuel Fabian Follow22 September 2024, 7:13 am
• A suspected drone heading toward Israel from the eastern direction was shot down by air defenses, the military says.
• Sirens had sounded in Be’er Ora, close to Eilat, amid the incident.
• According to the IDF, the apparent drone was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace.
• Earlier this morning, two drones launched at Israel from Iraq were intercepted by air defenses.
• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/what-hurricane-helene-s-500-mile-path-of-destruction-looks-like/ar-AA1rxaZw?ocid=BingNewsVerp
• What Hurricane Helene’s 500-mile path of destruction looks like
• Story by Rachel Ramirez, Sharif Paget, Aaron Fisher and Curt Merrill, CNN
•  • 16h • 5 min read
• 
• Hurricane Helene laid waste to the southeastern United States. Its sheer wind force and deadly floods left behind a path of destruction stretching over 500 miles from Florida to the Southern Appalachians.
• In just 48 hours, vast swaths of the region became unrecognizable. The storm has caused at least 130 deaths, and officials fear the toll could rise as many people remain unaccounted for.
• Communities were cut off and stranded as floodwaters washed away hundreds of roads, buildings, homes and vehicles. Communication infrastructure is in shreds. Millions of people have also lost power and access to water across at least six states.
• Helene’s path of devastation started on Florida’s Gulf Coast, as it traveled to the Big Bend. At 11:10 p.m. on September 26, it made landfall near the city of Perry as a powerful Category 4 hurricane and brought record-breaking storm surge late into the night.
• The region saw up to 15 feet of surge, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service.
• In Tampa Bay, waters rose to at least 6 feet, submerging many vehicles and residences.
• In Pinellas County, Florida, just west of Tampa, rescuers from the South Pasadena Fire Department and the county sheriff’s office waded through the rising waters by boat, searching for trapped residents. In one video, rescuers can be seen floating by a flooded, burning house. Further north in Cedar Key, the storm’s devastation was so widespread, city officials warned residents and volunteers on Friday against returning to the small coastal community. Many historic buildings and new homes have been severely damaged from hurricane-force winds and flooding, while roads were blocked by downed wires and dangerous debris.
• Flooding in Big Bend’s Steinhatchee community is not uncommon, but as Helene made landfall, locals say it spawned the worst flooding they’ve ever seen. One resident, Jules Carl, told CNN’s John Berman Friday morning she’s never had to worry too much about flooding in her home, but Helene came uncomfortably close.
• “I’ve got a boat sitting in the road in front of me right now and fish in our yard,” she said. “(The water) was coming up our patio steps. It got very, very close to coming in.”
• Some homes in Steinhatchee even floated away with the storm surge. Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby, who was riding out the hurricane in a house nearby, told CNN some homes “crashed into each other” as they were swept away. The storm quickly churned its way inland. Daylight unveiled the full scale of destruction: homes flattened; roads inundated; cars flipped; trees toppled; and power lines felled.
• Helene moved into Georgia as a Category 2 hurricane early Friday morning, after two days of heavy rain – not directly related to Helene – drenched large parts of the state. This made the ground unable to absorb additional moisture, leaving it more susceptible to Helene’s flooding.
• Atlanta saw the highest 48-hour rainfall totals on record, which quickly triggered life-threatening flooding. As Helene lingered in the region, Augusta saw some of the heaviest rainfall in the state, totaling 12 to 15 inches — about four months’ worth of rain in just two days. Extremely strong winds from the massive storm also lashed much of the state.
• Rescue crews saved a woman on top of a half-sunken car in the city of Mableton, northwest of Atlanta, just after sunrise on Friday. In Atlanta, authorities also rescued a family, including a woman carrying her baby, taking refuge on top of their car from the fast-flowing floodwaters; one of multiple such rescue missions across the region.
• Hundreds of roads remain closed and inaccessible from fallen trees and scattered debris from torn buildings.
• The storm pushed its way across the Blue Ridge Mountains, continuing to ravage everything in its path.
• Helene weakened into a tropical storm as it moved toward the Carolinas, but its wrath didn’t lessen. It heaped heavy rain onto mountain communities. Hundreds of road closures hampered efforts to rescue residents and prevented the delivery of urgently needed supplies.
• In South Carolina, Helene brought vicious winds and dumped “staggering” amounts of rain: up to 12 to 14 inches. Two firefighters died Friday night in Saluda County, about 43 miles west of Columbia, after a tree fell on their firetruck. Days later, the death toll rose to dozens, largely from fallen trees and power lines.
• The western North Carolina city of Asheville was especially hard-hit. Many residents took refuge on roofs, though some collapsed into the floodwaters. Houses floated away, while roads and bridges crumbled.
• Helene turned the beloved city into a mess of sludge, floating debris and toppled vehicles. Officials described it as “biblical devastation.”
• Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder summed up the situation at a news conference Monday morning: “Don’t come.”
• “We know you want to help, but please do not come here,” she said. “We do not have water, and we do not have power across the county, most of the county. The roads are still incredibly dangerous, and we simply cannot accommodate people.”
• Floods from Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the western North Carolina village of Chimney Rock and the region surrounding Lake Lure. Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari, who filmed the destruction, likened the storm to a “blender that was just taking out anything in its path.” He noted it will take years to rebuild the area.
• Farther inland, Helene’s landscape-altering impacts reached Tennessee. Heavy rainfall washed away a part of Interstate 40, a major highway connecting North Carolina and Tennessee.
• In the town of Afton, Tennessee, Helene washed out the Kinser Bridge on Highway 107, which is normally about 60 feet above the Nolichucky River. The bridge is also about 12 miles northeast of the Nolichucky Dam, which authorities warned on Saturday was also at risk of collapse.
• In nearby Erwin, more than 50 patients and staffers at the Unicoi County Hospital didn’t have enough time to evacuate to safety. As floodwater rose, they scrambled to seek refuge on the roof, where fierce winds made rescue challenging. Fortunately, crews brought them all to safety by Friday afternoon.
• Parts of Virginia also suffered Helene’s blow, leaving two dead from storm-related tree fall and building collapse, and hundreds of thousands without power.
• Helene became a tropical depression midday Friday. By Saturday, the storm had dissolved into remnants. Yet the true scale of its devastation remains to be seen.
• CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller contributed to this story.
  • _____
• Shanghai slammed by what China says is the city’s strongest storm in seven decades
  
  By Nectar Gan, CNN
   3 minute read 
  Updated 2:50 AM EDT, Mon September 16, 2024
  
  
  
  Pedestrians struggle with their umbrellas in strong winds and rain from the passage of Typhoon Bebinca in Shanghai on September 16, 2024. 
  Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images
  Hong KongCNN — 
  Shanghai was brought to a standstill on Monday by what authorities say was the strongest typhoon to directly hit the Chinese financial hub in more than seven decades, with flights, trains and highways suspended during a national holiday.
  Typhoon Bebinca made landfall in an industrial suburb southeast of the metropolis of 25 million people at about 7:30 a.m. local time. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said it packed top wind speeds of 130 kilometers per hour (80 mph), the equivalent of a Category 1 Atlantic hurricane.
  The China Meteorological Administration recorded wind speeds of 151 kph (94 mph) near the typhoon’s eye when it made landfall, and state media described it as the strongest storm to hit Shanghai since 1949.
  
  The administration on Monday issued a red typhoon warning, its most severe alert, warning of gale force winds, heavy rainfall and coastal floods in large swathes of eastern China.
  The powerful storm has disrupted travel plans for holidaymakers during the Mid-Autumn festival, or Moon Festival, a three-day national holiday that started on Sunday.
  All flights at Shanghai’s two international airports have been canceled since 8 p.m. Sunday. The city also suspended its ferry services, halted some train lines and closed ports, bridges and highways on Monday.
  Many tourist destinations in the city, including Shanghai Disney Resort, were also shut on Monday. Videos on Douyin, China’s version of Tiktok, show Disney staff taping trash bins to fences at the park.
  
  
  
  
  
  A large number of fishing boats moor at a port to avoid Typhoon Bebinca in Zhoushan, China, on September 15, 2024. 
  Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images
  More than 414,000 people in Shanghai had been evacuated to safety by midnight Monday, with exhibition centers and school gyms turned into makeshift shelters, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
  Similar safety measures were also adopted in the neighboring provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu. Across the region, more than 1,600 flights had been canceled as of Monday afternoon, according to CCTV.
  On Chinese social media, some Shanghai residents reported power and water outages on Monday morning. Many had rushed to stock up on food and supplies over the weekend.
  The typhoon is expected to quickly weaken into a tropical storm as it moves inland toward the west.
  
  Bebinca is the second major storm to hit China this month, following deadly Super Typhoon Yagi, the world’s second most powerful tropical cyclone so far this year.
  Yagi killed four people in the southern province of Hainan after making landfall on September 6 with maximum sustained wind speeds of 230 kph (140 mph), the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, before wreaking devastation across parts of Southeast Asia.
  Scientists have found that hotter oceans caused by the human-caused climate crisis are leading storms to intensify more rapidly.
  Shanghai is generally not in the direct path of strong typhoons, which typically make landfall further south in China. Prior to Bebinca, the city had only been directly hit by two typhoons – in 1949 and 2022 – plus a handful of severe tropical storms, according to data from the China Meteorological Administration.
• ___________________________________________
• A once-in-1,000-year rainfall event from an unnamed storm floods homes and forces rescues in North Carolina
  
  By Mary Gilbert, CNN Meteorologist
   5 minute read 
  Updated 9:12 PM EDT, Mon September 16, 2024
  
  
  
  Flooding in North Carolina swamps cars and roads near the Waterfront Villas and Marina in Carolina Beach on Monday, September 16. 
  Courtesy Mike Scott
  CNN — 
  Floodwater surged into homes, stranded vehicles and forced water rescues in coastal North Carolina on Monday after a tropical storm-like system dumped historic amounts of rain in a matter of hours.
  “It’s probably the worst flooding that any of us have seen in Carolina Beach,” Town Manager Bruce Oakley told CNN of the tourist town not far from Wilmington. “We’ve had to rescue people from cars, also some from houses and businesses.”
  Emergency services fielded dozens of calls for rescue, Oakley added.
  
  
  
  Carolina Beach was placed under a state of emergency Monday after a “historic” 18 inches of rain fell there in 12 hours at one station, a once-in-1,000-year rainfall event, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. More than a foot of rain in 12 hours was reported elsewhere in the area, a once-in-200-year rain event.
  
  
  
  
  
  The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office shared an image of flooding taken outside the county courthouse on Monday, September 16. 
  Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office
  Carolina Beach Elementary School was closed and students were dismissed early after classrooms started to flood, Oakley confirmed. Law enforcement and fire crews helped take some children home as some routes to the school were impassible due to the flooding, with roads under 3 feet of water.
  The owner of The Fat Pelican in Carolina Beach told CNN affiliate WWAY he didn’t have time to prepare for that much water.
  “There’s water inside the building. I’m trying to get the stuff that was outside that floated away,” Michael McLaughlin explained. But, he said he was optimistic that after the storm passed he could take a garden hose, wash the inside of the restaurant thoroughly and they’d “be ready to go again.”
  Lisa and Gary Hollon have had a home in Kure Beach, about 3 miles south of Carolina Beach, for nearly 15 years and never experienced flooding until Monday.
  The winds and rain picked up in the early hours of the morning and the first floor of their home experienced “sudden flooding of 4 to 6 inches,” Lisa Hollon told CNN.
  “We were not prepared and have never flooded before,” she said. “Many cars were unexpectedly flooded in driveways and along roads.”
  In video shared with CNN, the road outside of the home is covered by water as vehicles slowly drive by, causing ripples.
  Flooding also ramped up in neighboring Brunswick County where rainfall rates exceeded 4 to 5 inches per hour for a time Monday. The town of Sunny Point picked up more than a month’s worth of rain when over 9 inches fell in just three hours.
  
  There have been major road washouts across Brunswick County due to today’s heavy rainfall and flash flooding. Never…
  Posted by US National Weather Service Wilmington NC on Monday, September 16, 2024
  “Our deputies are assisting multiple people who are stranded in their vehicles and some homes at this time,” the Brunswick County Sheriff’s office said on Facebook.
  The city of Southport posted on Facebook on Monday afternoon that a shelter-in-place order was in effect and later added there was a curfew between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
  Surfboarder rescues neighbor’s pup
  In the Brunswick County, North Carolina, community of Supply, Timothy Turner used his surfboard to travel after the road next to his house was destroyed by flooding. In some areas, the water would have been over his head.
  After Supply – about 10 miles from Holden Beach – was hit by intense rain, Turner offered to help a neighbor whose dog was stuck at home on the other side of the road.
  “I crossed it with my surfboard, sank down into the mud, went to her house, got her dog and brought it back across,” said Turner, who runs a surfing school and assists with ocean rescues since the area doesn’t have lifeguards.
  “I’ve gotten 25 rescues out of the rip currents in the last eight years but that was the first time I ever got a dog up with a surfboard.”
  The extreme rainfall and flooding is another stark reminder that it doesn’t take a named storm to trigger extremely dangerous conditions. The atmosphere was ripe to unload torrential rainfall, something that’s becoming more common as the world warms due to fossil fuel pollution.
  Roads are flooded at least 3 feet deep in parts of Carolina Beach. No cars or trucks are designed to safely travel in floodwater this deep. Please stay off the roads. #ncwx
  (Photo from Ashely MacBride in Carolina Beach) pic.twitter.com/CbwLbsqc2E
  — NWS Wilmington, NC (@NWSWilmingtonNC) September 16, 2024
  Floodwaters started to recede in Carolina Beach early Monday afternoon as torrential rain shifted west of the area, according to Oakley. But cars abandoned during the worst of the flooding remained on empty roadways, according to town mayor Lynn Barbee.
  Storm is weakening and forecast is improving
  Tropical storm warnings for the coastal Carolinas have been discontinued as of Monday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center.
  The system was called Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight because it wasn’t organized enough to be dubbed a tropical or subtropical storm.
  “Continued weakening is expected during the next day or so, and the low is forecast to dissipate over the Carolinas by early Wednesday,” forecasters said.
  A system’s center is typically where its strongest winds and its heaviest rain occur, but that’s not the case for Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight. Most of the system’s heaviest rain and gusty winds are far removed from its poorly defined center, satellite imagery shows.
  
  The sun rises on Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight Monday. CIRA/RAMMB
  The center of the system came ashore Monday evening near the South Carolina-North Carolina state line, with southeast North Carolina still enduring most of the storm’s significant impacts.
  
  
  
  
  
  Forecast track for Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight. 
  CNN Weather
  Much of southeast North Carolina is under a flood watch until Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
  “Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas,” forecasters said. They said less than an inch of additional rainfall could come down in the area Monday night but there is only a 20% chance of rain Tuesday.
  
  The Carolinas were deluged by 6 to 12 inches of rainfall from Debby in early August that created a flash flood emergency near Charleston, South Carolina.
  CNN Meteorologists Elisa Raffa and Brandon Miller and Jillian Sykes contributed to this report.
• ___________________________________________
• 5 killed as heaviest rain in decades hits parts of central and eastern Europe
   
  By Emmanuel Miculita, Sophie Tanno and Radina Gigova, CNN
   2 minute read 
  Updated 5:17 AM EDT, Sun September 15, 2024
  
  
  People shelter from the rain under umbrellas as they walk across a bridge over the Biala River in Glucholazy, southern Poland on Saturday. 
  Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images
  CNN — 
  At least five people have died after some of the heaviest rain in years hit central and eastern Europe, causing flooding and widespread disruption.
  A slow-moving low pressure system dubbed Storm Boris dumped a month’s worth of rain onto several of Europe’s historic capitals, including Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. The heavy rainfall continued to pummel the region into Sunday.
  One person died by drowning in Klodzko county, southwest Poland, Reuters reported on Sunday. It comes after four people died in Romania, where the rainfall left hundreds stranded in flooded areas.
  
  
  
  “The effects were most critical in seven localities,” Romania’s Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu told CNN affiliate Antena 3. “They have already intervened there to save 95 people. Sadly four people have been found dead in their houses or yards.”
  Rescue services have been launched in hard-hit counties as authorities warn that they have recorded the heaviest rainfall in 100 years over the past 24 hours.
  
  
  
  
  
  Rescuers assist the locals on a flooded street in Pechea, Romania, on Saturday. 
  Romanian Emergency Services Galati via AP
  
  
  
  
  
  A car drives on a flooded street in Braunau am Inn, Austria. 
  Manfred Fesl/APA/AFP/Getty Images
  Rivers have burst their banks in Poland and the Czech Republic. In southwest Poland, 1,600 people were evacuated in Klodzko county as local rivers reached record high water levels and broke their banks. Klodzko, a town of 25,000, was left partially submerged in water on Sunday.
  Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters Sunday that the situation is “very dramatic” and “most dramatic in Klodzko county,” Reuters reported.
  “I’m calling for residents to cooperate with rescue services where calls for evacuation are issued,” he added.
  Significant flooding is expected to continue in the Czech Republic, where authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations for some areas. Footage released by the Czech Republic Fire and Rescue Service showed flooded streets in the southern Benešově nad Černou municipality, where two women who didn’t follow evacuation orders had to be rescued by boat.
  
  
  
  
  
  Firefighters fill sand bags in Glucholazy, southern Poland. 
  Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images
  
  
  
  
  
  A flooded house during heavy rain in Mikulovice, Czech Republic. 
  Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images
  
  
  
  
  
  The swollen Biala River in Glucholazy, southern Poland. 
  Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images
  In Germany, southern and eastern states in particular are preparing for flooding. Flood warnings have been issued for rivers in the state of Saxony.
  In neighboring Austria, heavy rainfall has caused water levels to rise in several rivers and rescue services have been called out to parts of the country. Many municipalities in Lower Austria have declared a state of emergency as heavy rainfall continued into Sunday.
  Red alerts, the highest level of warning, have been issued for portions of Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia. This level of alert is associated with “intense meteorological phenomena” and “major damage is likely,” according to Meteoalarm.
  CNN meteorologists Taylor Ward, Allison Chinchar, and Elliana Hebert contributed to this report.
• ___________________________________________
• 
  https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154671
  Pact for the Future: World leaders pledge action for peace, sustainable development
  
  
  UN Photo/Loey Felipe
   
  A wide view of the General Assembly Hall during the opening of the Summit of the Future.
  
  By Vibhu Mishra
  22 September 2024 UN AffairsWorld leaders on Sunday adopted the Pact for the Future, a landmark declaration pledging concrete actions towards a safer, more peaceful, sustainable and inclusive world for tomorrow’s generations.
  
  
  The Pact along with its annexes, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations, was adopted by consensus, despite a last-minute proposal for an amendment by some countries, including Russia, Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Syria.
  The amendment sought to incorporate text calling for non-intervention in any issue of national sovereignty, and the primacy of intergovernmental deliberation, in effect, downplaying the role of the civil society or private sector interests. It was rejected after the 193-member Assembly decided not to act on the proposal.
  Click here for UN News’ live coverage of the meeting and here to download the resolution
  
  
  Pact for the Future
  The Pact’s five broad focus areas include: sustainable development; international peace and security; science and technology; youth and future generations and transforming global governance.
  This has become an urgent pivot, as multilateral financial institutions and even the United Nations itself have come up short seeking solutions to 21st century problems, the pact lays out.
  By endorsing the Pact, UN Member States pledged, among other things, to:
  Turbocharge the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change, two landmark 2015 agreements that have seen halting progress and missed milestones
  Listen to young people and include them in decision-making, at the national and global levels
  Build stronger partnerships with civil society, the private sector, local and regional authorities and more
  Redouble efforts to build and sustain peaceful, inclusive and just societies and address the root causes of conflicts
  Protect all civilians in armed conflict
  Accelerate the implementation of our commitments on women, peace and security
  Global Digital Compact
  The Global Digital Compact marks the first truly worldwide agreement on the international regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and is founded on the idea that technology should benefit everyone.
  It outlines commitments to ensure that digital technologies contribute to sustainable development and human rights, while addressing risks like digital divides, cybersecurity, and misuse of technology.
  The Compact aims to bridge the digital divide and ensure AI technologies are used responsibly, fostering global cooperation on both AI capabilities and security threats. Governments are also obligated to form an impartial worldwide Scientific Panel on AI and start an international conversation about AI governance inside the UN.
  Declaration on Future Generations
  The Declaration on Future Generations focuses on securing the well-being of future generations, also highlighting the need to include their interests in decision-making processes.
  It also underlines the importance of protecting the environment, promoting intergenerational equity, and ensuring that long-term consequences of today’s actions are considered.
  
  Secretary-General Guterres addressing the Summit of the Future.
  New opportunities
  Speaking after the adoption, Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that the Pact for the Future and its annexes, “open pathways to new possibilities and opportunities.”
  “People everywhere are hoping for a future of peace, dignity, and prosperity. They are crying out for global action to solve the climate crisis, tackle inequality, and address new and emerging risks that threaten everyone,” he said.
  “They see the United Nations as essential to solving these challenges,” he continued, adding “the Summit of the Future sets a course for international cooperation that can meet their expectations … now, let’s get to work.”
  Months of negotiation
  The adoption was the culmination of months of negotiations co-facilitated by Germany and Namibia.
  Speaking after the adoption, Philémon Yang, President of the 79th session of the General Assembly, urged nations to move forward, together, in a spirit of solidarity and multilateral cooperation.
  “The path we choose must lead to a future where human dignity is respected and human rights are upheld. A future where peace transcends the mere absence of conflict and is grounded in justice, inclusion, and equity.”
• ________
• A landslide triggered a 650-foot mega-tsunami in Greenland. Then came something inexplicable
  
  By Laura Paddison, CNN
   4 minute read 
  Updated 10:38 AM EDT, Sat September 14, 2024
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  CNN — 
  It started with a melting glacier that set off a huge landslide, which triggered a 650-foot high mega-tsunami in Greenland last September. Then came something inexplicable: a mysterious vibration that shook the planet for nine days.
  Over the past year, dozens of scientists across the world have been trying to figure out what this signal was.
  Now they have an answer, according to a new study in the journal Science, and it provides yet another warning that the Arctic is entering “uncharted waters” as humans push global temperatures ever upwards.
  
  
  
  Some seismologists thought their instruments were broken when they started picking up vibrations through the ground back in September, said Stephen Hicks, a study co-author and a seismologist at University College London.
  It wasn’t the rich orchestra of high pitches and rumbles you might expect with an earthquake, but more of a monotonous hum, he told CNN. Earthquake signals tend to last for minutes; this one lasted for nine days.
  He was baffled, it was “completely unprecedented,” he said.
  
  
  Related articleThe planet endures its hottest summer on record — for the second straight year
  Seismologists traced the signal to eastern Greenland, but couldn’t pin down a specific location. So they contacted colleagues in Denmark, who had received reports of a landslide-triggered tsunami in a remote part of the region called Dickson Fjord.
  The result was a nearly year-long collaboration between 68 scientists across 15 countries, who combed through seismic, satellite and on-the-ground data, as well as simulations of tsunami waves to solve the puzzle.
  
  
  
  
  
  The mountain in Dickson Fjord, eastern Greenland, in August 12, 2023 before the landslide. 
  Søren Rysgaard
  
  
  
  
  
  The mountain after the landslide, on September 19, 2023 
  Danish Army
  What happened is called a “cascading hazard,” said Kristian Svennevig, a geologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, and it all started with human-caused climate change.
  For years, the glacier at the base of a huge mountain towering nearly 4,000 feet above Dickson Fjord had been melting, as many glaciers are in the rapidly warming Arctic.
  As the glacier thinned, the mountain became increasingly unstable before it eventually collapsed on September 16 last year, sending enough rock and debris tumbling into the water to fill 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
  The subsequent mega-tsunami — one of the highest in recent history — set off a wave which became trapped in the bendy, narrow fjord for more than a week, sloshing back and forth every 90 seconds.
  The phenomenon, called a “seiche,” refers to the rhythmic movement of a wave in an enclosed space, similar to water splashing backwards and forwards in a bathtub or cup. One of the scientists even tried (and failed) to recreate the impact in their own bathtub.
  While seiches are well-known, scientists previously had no idea they could last so long.
  “Had I suggested a year ago that a seiche could persist for nine days, people would shake their heads and say that’s impossible,” said Svennevig, who likened the discovery to suddenly finding a new color in a rainbow.
  It was this seiche that created the seismic energy in the Earth’s crust, the scientists found.
  It is maybe the first time scientists have directly observed the impact of climate change “on the ground beneath our feet,” said Hicks. And no place was immune; the signal traveled from Greenland to Antarctica in about an hour, he added.
  
  
  Related articleLong-lost Greenland ice core suggests potential for disastrous sea level rise
  No one was injured in the tsunami, although it washed away centuries-old cultural heritage sites and damaged an empty military base. But this stretch of water is on a commonly used cruise ship route. If one had been there at the time, “the consequences would have been devastating,” the study’s authors wrote.
  Eastern Greenland had never experienced a landslide and tsunami like this before, Svennevig said. It shows new areas of the Arctic are “coming online” for these kinds of climate events, he added.
  As the Arctic continues to warm — over the past few decades, the region has warmed four times faster than the rest of the world — landslide-triggered mega-tsunamis may become more common and with deadly consequences.
  In June 2017, a tsunami in northwest Greenland killed four people and washed away houses. The threat goes beyond Greenland, Svennevig said; similar-shaped fjords exist in other regions, including Alaska, parts of Canada and Norway.
  
  
  Related articleGreenland’s northern glaciers are in trouble, threatening ‘dramatic’ sea level rise, study shows
  What happened in Greenland last September “once again demonstrates the ongoing destabilization of large mountain slopes in the Arctic due to amplified climate warming,” said Paula Snook, a landslide geologist at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences who was not involved in the study.
  Recent rock avalanches in the Arctic as well as in Alpine regions, are “an alarming signal,” she told CNN. “We are thawing ground which has been in a cold, frozen state for many thousands of years.”
• 
  There’s still a lot of research to be done on rock avalanches, which are also affected by natural processes, cautioned Lena Rubensdotter, a researcher at the Geological Survey of Norway, who was also not involved in the study.
  However, she added, it’s “logical to assume that we will see more frequent rock collapses in permafrost slopes as the climate warms in Arctic regions.”
  The discovery of natural phenomena behaving in seemingly unnatural ways highlights how this part of the world is changing in unexpected ways, Svennevig said.
  “It’s a sign that climate change is pushing these systems into uncharted waters.”
• ___________________________________________
• https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/13/tech/sam-altmans-worldcoin-crypto-nightcap
• Sam Altman’s lesser-known crypto project wants to scan the world’s irises
  
  Analysis by Allison Morrow, CNN
   7 minute read 
  Published 7:00 AM EDT, Fri September 13, 2024
  
  
  Worldcoin’s orbs scan people’s irises to create a kind of digital passport that can identify you as a human online. 
  Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images
  A version of this story appeared in CNN Business’ Nightcap newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free, here.
  New YorkCNN — 
  If the AI that Sam Altman is building works, it’ll eventually break the global economy (in a good way, he hopes). And when that happens, he’s got another project, Worldcoin, in the works to help fix it.
  Through OpenAI, the privately owned company behind ChatGPT, Altman is pursuing the holy grail of tech, known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI, which he believes will be “the best tool humanity has yet created.”
  Let’s play along for a moment and take him at his word: It’s 2034, and AGI has freed us all from our cubicles to live a life of leisure, safe from pre-AGI headaches like disease and war. We eat grapes and write poetry or … binge Netflix and gossip. Heaven!
  
  (And just for today, I’m going to resist my urge to pontificate about the inevitability of human struggle, or what it means to experience pleasure without its opposite.)
  Taking even the most optimistic view of what AGI will do to the world, there’s an unavoidable problem that when the bots become smarter than us, it’ll be hard to tell who’s a bot and who’s a human. Right now, our best line of defense are those annoying CAPTCHA puzzles, and bots are already figuring out ways around them.
  That’s the problem that Worldcoin is trying to solve. Trouble is, the solution sounds super dystopian.
  It goes like this: To ensure everyone’s essential humanness online, the company uses biometric data to create a digital passport of sorts, called World ID, that can’t be replicated by bots. To do that, it’s using its proprietary, basketball-ball sized “orbs” that scan people’s eyeballs and create a unique, immutable code based on the pattern of their irises.
  (I know!)
  Once the orb scans an iris, it converts the image into a numerical code that becomes part of your encrypted, anonymized digital ID.
  According to the company, the iris is the only biometric measure that’s sufficiently unique to identify all the humans on the planet. Worldcoin insists it doesn’t store any personal information, and the orbs immediately delete the images after verification.
  Longer term, those digital IDs would form the basis for a system of universal basic income, in which everyone might be doled out installments of Worldcoin’s own cryptocurrency.
  This is the kind of audacious Silicon Valley plan that’s easy to mock at first glance. But it’s also catnip to billionaire VCs like Andreessen Horowitz, one of Worldcoin’s backers.
  Like most of you, I had a lot of questions. So I sat down (virtually) with Worldcoin’s co-founder and CEO, 30-year-old Alex Blania, to discuss the project’s origins and future.
  The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
  CNN: I am curious to hear the cocktail-party version of what Worldcoin is.
  Worldcoin CEO Alex Blania: We are trying to create the largest financial and identity network on the planet and the internet, and we do so by solving a long-standing problem, which is how to verify humanness.
  But also by launching a digital currency, we’re giving ownership in it to truly every human being.
  The outcome should be much bigger than those two things independently, because it will create the largest network on the internet of that type.
  CNN: It sounds like you’re banking on two things happening in the near future: One, that AI becomes AGI and upends the global economy, and two, cryptocurrencies can be ready to replace the global financial network.
  Blania: I actually don’t think so. It’s not that we hope that, magically, somehow crypto will turn out to be widely adopted and we can piggy back on top of that — rather we hope that we can make the change.
  And on AGI, we believe that that trajectory is happening … We already are in a situation where all the destiny is in our hands, and I think we just need to make it happen. And if we make it happen, it is one of the most ambitious projects of our time, period. But of course there’s a lot of risk around it.
  
  
  
  
  
  Alex Blania, co-founder of Worldcoin, in Singapore last year. 
  Joseph Nair/Bloomberg/Getty Images
  CNN: What kind of risks do you mean?
  Blania: It’s not just one big thing anymore, it’s many small things.
  First, I think it’s the overall execution of things we have in our control — how to build a product, how to roll it out, how to hire the right people, all of those things.
  Second is probably narrative. You hit on multiple things all at once that are somewhat either complicated or controversial. But, just coming back from Asia was very interesting, because in Japan, for example, crypto is not a controversial thing at all. So you need to communicate it very clearly, it’s not a homogeneous problem.
  I think number three is probably how to make governments and regulators understand what we do and why it matters.
  CNN: Speaking of governments, you’ve had some regulatory setbacks over the last year. (Worldcoin was blocked in Spain, had its office raided in Hong Kong and faced inquiries from several other governments.) How are you adjusting your approach now?
  Blania: We’ve also had a lot of very big wins. We signed an MOU [memorandum of understanding] with Malaysia, which I think is a really big deal — there are not many crypto projects that have achieved something like that.
  In general, I think we got much, much better at it. Before we even launch in a country, we talk to the government extensively.
  With the US, as you know there’s a lot of regulatory uncertainty around crypto, and so we decided, as sad as it is, to not operate in the United States until that clarity is given.
  CNN: A lot of Worldcoin’s focus is future-focused — targeting problems that are hard for us to imagine today. Can you explain why a person like me, a regular person on the internet, should sign up for a World ID?
  Blania: At face value, it can sound like a kind of cute little problem of “we have bots on X.” But I think it is actually quite a fundamental shift that happened with the launch of ChatGPT. And so we will clearly need a way to protect and verify humanness in many online spaces, and this is a first step.
  There’s suddenly other entities that coexist with us online that will be indistinguishable from from other people. And they might be very smart and very good. [But] certain goals might be misaligned with what society broadly wants.
  The other answer is, I actually think the most important companies of our time don’t start by solving a problem, but rather they start by creating a future that we want to see. Like, SpaceX, OpenAI. What problem does AGI solve in the immediate, is very hard to state.
  For us, the initial starting point was somewhat mechanical. It was like, OK, how would the world look if such a network would actually succeed? How would it change it?
  CNN: You’ve talked about having some concerns about the existential risks of AGI. That’s something that I think about a lot, too, and I’m wondering how you think about your work as it relates to the risk, even if it’s a remote risk, of, like, destroying everything?
  Blania: I think the upside of it is drastically bigger.
  I hope that in 100 years, looking back, this looks like a medieval age. I think AI has this massive potential of giving everyone basically free and immediate access to the best health care, and drastically accelerating the biggest fields of science and technology.
  What do you think?Join 2 others in the comments
  View Comments
  I think it is clear that there is a path to build AGI in a safe manner, and as long as we do that, I think that the value to society is so outsized that it justifies a lot of things in the short term or midterm that require changes or face disruption. Every new technology has some potential bad outcomes that come with it.
  CNN: How would you put someone at ease over the idea of scanning their iris?
  Blania: I think there’s two pieces to that. One is us actually explaining what it is and how it works and why it’s not threatening.
  It’s not any different than using Face ID. And in fact, it can even be superior to something like your face.
  I think it’s similar to the initial outcry when Apple did it, it was seen as this wildly outrageous thing to do. And now it’s just like a normal part of life.
• ___________________________________________
• Russia slams Israel in attempts to gain power and influence in Middle East
•  https://www.jpost.com/international/article-817244?utm_source=jpost.app.android&utm_medium=share 
• Russia slams Israel in attempts to gain power and influence in Middle East – analysis
  Russia is seeking to bring Turkey and the Syrian regime together, while also working closely with Iran.
  By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
  SEPTEMBER 1, 2024 11:19
  Updated: SEPTEMBER 1, 2024 16:15
  
  Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a press conference after addressing the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 23, 2023
  (photo credit: REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ)
  
  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov put out several statements over the last few days that include claims that Israel is provoking Iran, and suggesting that Hamas and Hezbollah cannot be defeated.
  
  The comments were seen positively in Iran, where state media reported on them. Lavrov said the “assassination of the head of the Hamas politburo [Ismail Haniyeh] was an attempt to provoke Iran and that Iran will never submit to provocative actions,” IRNA reported.
  
  The report is based on comments Lavrov gave to RT, which was subsequently reported in RIA Novosti.
  
  “Iran categorically does not want to succumb to provocations, to get involved in any large-scale military actions. They are trying to provoke it. The murder of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran at the new president’s inauguration ceremony is, of course, a provocation. Iran did not react then, but stated that it reserves this right because its territorial integrity and sovereignty were violated – a guest of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran was deliberately eliminated,” Lavrov said.
  
  Iranian state media re-reported this sentence, noting that “it seems that Tel Aviv is the only party that wants to start a big war between Iran and Israel with the intervention of neighboring countries,” RIA Novosti quoted Lavrov as saying.”
  
  
  Russia’s selective observations
  Lavrov went on to assert that Israel is trying to “solve” the problem of Hamas, Hezbollah, and also pro-Iran groups in Iraq and Syria. Russia has not condemned the Hamas October 7 attack and has embraced Hamas over the last year. In addition, Russia and Iran have grown closer.
  
  Russia claims that its policy is merely adhering to the UN Charter. The UN Charter doesn’t permit non-state actor terrorist groups like Hamas to commit genocide and massacre and kidnap hundreds of people, but Moscow doesn’t seem to address this.
  
• Instead, Lavrov was quoted as saying, “If you respect sovereignty, then the Palestinian state, by decision of the UN Security Council, must be created precisely on the basis of its territorial integrity, within the borders that are written in the decision, and have sovereignty. They [Israel and the West] are now trying to foist some kind of ‘ersatz’ on the Palestinians, ‘something’ like closed enclaves controlled by Israel along the outer perimeter of the border. I am sure that this will not lead to anything good,” Lavrov said.
  
  The top Russian diplomat then indicated that the situation in the Middle East has worsened since the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran in late July. “The Israeli regime does not deny the fact that it intends to take advantage of the conditions and opportunities in the region,” he said, according to the IRNA report.
  
  At the same time that the Russian diplomat was slamming Israel, embracing Iran, and defending Hamas and Hezbollah, he also was expressing hope for a new meeting between Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the Syrian regime.“We are now proceeding from the expediency of preparing the next meeting. I am confident that it will take place in the foreseeable future. We are interested in our partners in Damascus and Ankara normalizing their relations,” he said.
• ___________________________________________
• Expert predicts revolution in Libya, fears crisis ‘far worse’ than 2011 
• https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-817374?utm_source=jpost.app.android&utm_medium=share 
• SEPTEMBER 2, 2024 12:50
  
  A man holds a picture of commander Khalifa Haftar during Independence Day celebrations in Benghazi, Libya December 24, 2022.
  (photo credit: REUTERS/ESAM OMRAN AL-FETORI)
  
  Libya straddles the verge of a revolution, with the Central Bank having just collapsed and the growing tensions between the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli, a government in Benghazi supported by the warlord Khalifa Haftar, and the rising power of armed militias in the capital.
  
  For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org
  
  Mohamed Khaled Elghuel, Chairman of the Peace and Prosperity Party in Libya, explained to The Media Line that the country currently faces two main scenarios: either a revolution that may be worse than the one of 2011 if no actions are taken to end this endless circle of dysfunction or a total reset towards a federal system. 
  
  Libya went through the collapse of the Central Bank in the past few days, and this poses a serious threat to the country’s stability since armed militias could easily take over. 
  
  The bank dominates the Libyan economy, owning the two main commercial banks and holding $27bn in reserves, most of it from oil revenues. Sadiq al-Kabir, the sacked governor, has recently started attacking Dbeibah’s overspending and is now seen to favor the forces in the country’s east.
  
  Abdel Fattah Ghaffar, the new interim deputy governor appointed by the Tripoli-based government, held a press conference in the capital and insisted he could ease the current liquidity crisis, pay unpaid salaries within two days, and be accountable to a board of governors.
  
  Gaddafi 260 R (credit: REUTERS/Max Rossi/Files)
  Kabir has run the bank since 2011, the year that Col Muammar Gaddafi was toppled with Western backing, leading to the paralyzing split between the west and east of the country.
  
  The rival eastern administration has opposed Kabir’s sacking and said on Tuesday it would continue “suspending all oil production and exports until Kabir is reappointed,” citing “force majeure.” The affected oilfields constitute about 90% of the country’s oilfields and terminals.
  
  
  Kabir said on Tuesday, for a second day running, the bank had been unable to operate due to threats from militia and the kidnapping of four staff, leading him to warn that August salaries may not be payable. 
  
  “The current events are caused by different historical reasons. Libya’s independence was historically a foreign decision more than a national process. In fact, Libyans do not have a national charter that sets peace within the country as its principle. This is why we are still facing inner disputes,” Elghuel stated. 
  
  “On top of that, since the 1960s, there was not a clear plan adopted by the country to invest the money coming from oil revenues, which turned Libya into a rentier state with an endless circle of corruption that led to social uprisings like the one in 2011. The current situation may lead to a far worse scenario,” he added. 
• ________________________________________
• MBS seeks US and Israeli assurances in Saudi deal amid fears of backlash
•  https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-816309?utm_source=jpost.app.android&utm_medium=share 
• MBS seeks US and Israeli assurances in Saudi deal amid fears of backlash – opinion
  Saudi Crown Prince MBS demands US and Israeli commitments on a Palestinian state, citing security fears as he negotiates a historic deal.
  By NEVILLE TELLER
  AUGUST 26, 2024 00:07
  Updated: AUGUST 26, 2024 04:56
  
  
• SAUDI CROWN PRINCE Mohammed bin Salman attends a cabinet meeting in May. Only Saudi Arabia and the Arab world can convert, circumvent, or disempower rejectionist organizations like Hamas, the writer maintains.
  (photo credit: SAUDI PRESS AGENCY/REUTERS)
  
  On August 14, the US digital news medium, Politico, published an exclusive report. It was based on accounts from three separate sources, who had been privy to talks between of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), and members of the US Congress.
  
  These talks were the latest in a series of detailed discussions that have been taking place for years between the United States and Saudi Arabia. They began during the presidency of Donald Trump, and preceded the Abraham Accords. 
  
  Over time, the shape of a complex agreement of major significance has emerged, clearly aimed at boosting MBS’s ambitious program for securing Saudi’s future development. His Saudi Vision 2030, launched in 2016, aimed at breaking the nation’s total dependence on oil and promoting additional means of developing the nation’s potential.
  
  In exchange for commitments by the US to Saudi Arabia covering, among other issues, security, technical assistance with developing a civilian nuclear program, and investment in areas such as hi-tech, Saudi Arabia would limit its dealings with China and normalize its relations with Israel. 
  
  MBS had one provison before agreeing to breathe life into the draft deal. In line with long-standing Saudi policy, he required firm approval from Israel for the establishment of a Palestinian state. This stark condition has been somewhat modified during the negotiating process. MBS now requires the inclusion in the agreement of “a credible path toward a Palestinian state.”
  
  SAUDI ARABIA’S Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jeddah, last year. (credit: AMER HILABI/REUTERS)
  Despite widespread global support, including that of the US, for the two-state solution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far refused to countenance fostering the development of a sovereign Palestine. It could, he has pointed out, bring Iran-sponsored terrorism into the heart of Israel, and place Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion airport under permanent threat of attack.  
  
  History of a ‘Palestinian State’
  The territories earmarked to form the putative Palestinian state – the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza – were overrun by Jordan and Egypt during the 1948 Israel-Arab conflict, and administered by them for 20 years. When originally seized, Mandate Palestine had been dissolved and the land belonged to no sovereign state.
  
  During the subsequent two decades, neither Jordan nor Egypt, which occupied those territories, made the slightest effort to form a Palestinian state. 
  
  The areas were won back by Israel in the Six Day War in 1967. However, in the following years, through astute Palestinian propaganda, they morphed in the public consciousness into “occupied Palestinian land.” A political reality had been created. 
  
  Since then, Israel has been increasingly pressured to support establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], east Jerusalem [including the Old City], and Gaza. 
• _____________________
• Massive cyberattack rocks Central Bank of Iran, computer system paralyzed https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-814715?utm_source=jpost.app.android&utm_medium=share 
• 
  According to reports, all the computer systems of the banks in Iran were paralyzed following the cyber attack.
  By BAR SHEFER, AVI ASHKENAZI, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
  AUGUST 14, 2024 16:56
  Updated: AUGUST 14, 2024 19:08
  
  The sign of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is seen in Tehran, Iran January 25, 2023.
  (photo credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)
  
  The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and other banks were targeted on Wednesday as part of a significant cyber attack that led to widespread disruptions in the country’s banking system, Iran International reported.
  
  
  #BREAKING A major cyberattack has targeted the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and several other banks, leading to widespread disruptions in the country’s banking system, @IranIntl has learned. Initial assessments indicate this could be one of the largest cyberattacks ever against… pic.twitter.com/6TiuNrxosL
  — Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) August 14, 2024
  
  
  According to reports, all the computer systems of the banks in Iran were paralyzed following the cyber attack. Initial estimates indicated that this could be one of the largest-ever cyberattacks against Iranian state infrastructure.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A signal to Iran?
  The cyber attack is most likely a signal from the Western countries to Iran, that is, conveying a message that demonstrates how Iran can be harmed. 
  
  Hands are seen interfering with cyber code (Illustrative). (credit: PIXABAY)
  The last cyber attack carried out against Iranian institutions took place last December when a significant part of the gas stations in the country were damaged as part of a cyber attack, which the Iranians attributed to Israel and the US.
  
  Israeli media later reported that a paper had been stuck onto ATM machines in Iran, which read, “Dear customers, it is impossible to withdraw money from this ATM. This is because all of Iran’s national budget and resources have been allocated to the wars and the corrupt religious leaders of the Islamic Republic regime. “We are very sorry.”
  
  According to Iran International later on Wednesday, data was stolen during the attack. 
  
  
  This is a developing story. 
  
  _______________________________________________
• WHO declares mpox a global public health emergency for second time in two years – https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-declares-mpox-global-public-health-emergency-second-time-two-years-2024-08-14/ 
• 
  By Bhanvi Satija and Jennifer Rigby
  August 14, 20245:42 PM PDTUpdated 2 months ago
  
  Aug 14 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak of the viral infection in Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighbouring countries.
  An emergency committee met earlier on Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on whether the disease outbreak constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern,” or PHEIC.
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  PHEIC status is WHO’s highest level of alert and aims to accelerate research, funding and international public health measures and cooperation to contain a disease.
  “It’s clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives,” said Tedros.
  Mpox can spread through close contact. Usually mild, it is fatal in rare cases. It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.
• 
  The outbreak in Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But a new variant, clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
  
  
  Item 1 of 2 A laboratory nurse takes a sample from a child declared a suspected case Mpox at a treatment centre in Munigi, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi/File Photo
  [1/2]A laboratory nurse takes a sample from a child declared a suspected case Mpox at a treatment centre in Munigi, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi/File
  
  
  It has spread from Congo to neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the action from the WHO.
  “The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” Tedros added.
  
  Tedros said on Wednesday that WHO had released $1.5 million in contingency funds and plans to release more in the coming days. WHO’s response plan would require an initial $15 million, and the agency plans to appeal to donors for funding.
  Earlier this week, Africa’s top public health body declared an mpox emergency for the continent after warning that the viral infection was spreading at an alarming rate, with more than 17,000 suspected cases and more than 500 deaths this year, mainly among children in Congo.
  
  Professor Dimie Ogoina, chair of WHO’s mpox emergency committee, said all members unanimously agreed that the current upsurge of cases is an “extraordinary event,” with a record number of cases in Congo.
  Vaccines and behaviour change helped stop the spread when a different strain of mpox spread globally, primarily among men who have sex with men, and WHO declared an emergency in 2022.
  In Congo, the transmission routes need further study, WHO said. No vaccines are yet available, although efforts are underway to change that and work out who best to target. The agency also appealed to countries with stockpiles to donate shots.
• https://www.jpost.com/international/article-814392?utm_source=jpost.app.android&utm_medium=share
• Sudan ends consultations with US on Geneva peace talks without agreement
  “I announce the end of the consultations without agreement on the participation of the Sudanese delegation in the Geneva negotiations,” Mohamed Bashir Abdullah Abu Nammu said.
  By THE MEDIA LINE STAFF
  AUGUST 12, 2024 13:51
  
  
• Families flee RSF advances in Sudan’s El Gezira state, on Sennar Road in the city of al-Dinder, Sennar state, Sudan, July 18, 2024.
  (photo credit: REUTERS/ Faiz Abubakr)
  
  The Sudanese government announced on Sunday that it concluded consultations with the US regarding upcoming peace talks in Geneva without reaching an agreement. The consultations, which took place over the weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were intended to discuss Sudan’s participation in the Geneva negotiations.
  
  For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org
  
  Mohamed Bashir Abdullah Abu Nammu, Sudan’s minister of minerals and head of the government delegation, stated, “I announce the end of the consultations without agreement on the participation of the Sudanese delegation in the Geneva negotiations.” The minister further mentioned that the final decision would be left to the country’s leadership based on their assessments.
  
  Details surrounding the decision were not disclosed by the minister.
  
  The US had previously invited the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to peace talks scheduled for August 14 in Geneva, Switzerland.
  
  Men unload boxes of nutritional supplements from an helicopter prior to a humanitarian food distribution carried out by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Thonyor, Leer county, South Sudan, February 25, 2017. (credit: REUTERS/Siegfried Modola/File Photo)
  Establishing a nationwide ceasefire
  The objective of these talks was to establish a nationwide ceasefire, ensure humanitarian aid could reach those in need, and develop a mechanism to monitor and verify the implementation of any agreements.
  
  Sudan has been embroiled in a violent conflict between the SAF and the RSF since April 15, 2023. The ongoing clashes have claimed the lives of at least 16,650 people, according to the most recent data from the United Nations. Additionally, around 10.7 million people are internally displaced within Sudan, while approximately 2.2 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
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