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Despite the fact that the BRICS+ initiative was first proposed in 2017, there is still hardly any concrete framework or overarching concept advanced by any of the BRICS countries

The Federation of Indian Exporters Organization (FIEO), India’s apex trade body, also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Business Russia to promote trade and investments between the two countries, during the on-going delegation visit

Kurdish-led SDF implicated in plan to attack Russian forces.

In Walla News report, intelligence officers the major success of Operation Shield and Arrow.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

While the majority of the world’s media attention focused on Israel’s targeted assassination of six leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the recently concluded Operation Shield and Arrow, the IDF also recorded major success in destroying much of its terror-production infrastructure, Hebrew-language Walla News reported.

In an exclusive interview, commanders in the IDF’s intelligence branch described the high-quality targets that the air force destroyed over the course of five days earlier this month. More than a third, 12 out of 32, were obliterated within minutes of the opening shots of the conflict, when Israeli missiles took out three of the PIJ’s most important commanders.

Targets included a tunnel deep underground that contained the PIJ’s largest rocket-producing facility. A senior military intelligence official said that the Iranian proxy “was for sure surprised by our success in locating the factory, and certainly by our 90% destruction of it.”

Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets also demolished explosives-manufacturing laboratories, launch pits and weapons depots.

Hitting them so quickly “critically improv[ed] our protection [of civilians],” said a senior IAF officer. “We hurt their launch capabilities, prevented a greater number of rockets being fired… including without a doubt on the [central] Gush Dan area.”

The PIJ still managed to launch 1,468 rockets at Israel, but most landed in open areas and 291 fell short in the Strip itself, killing several Gazans, including children. The Iron Dome interception system shot down 437 heading toward populated areas. Only two people were killed as a result of the few missiles that got through, one of them a Palestinian man from Gaza who was working in southern Israel.

Major A is in charge of the intelligence department in the research brigade whose hard work goes on year-round, with soldiers – including one on the autistic spectrum – who spend their days discerning hidden weapon-producing and launch sites as well as smuggling routes from pictures taken by Israel’s eyes in the sky that continuously patrol the Gaza Strip and its borders.

Once they have proven what the sites are, “we also recommend what to attack and how, and explain what the sensitivities are regarding each and every target,” Major A. explained. “The targets we hit during Operation Shield and Arrow are very significant, and each one of them is an achievement that took a tremendous amount of effort.”

One target that was particularly difficult but vital to find was a warehouse that stored chemicals that were laboriously smuggled into the Gaza Strip. It was built in a civilian area, as the Palestinians know that Israel tries to avoid civilian casualties in its war on terror as much as possible.

“It’s a target we attacked in Operation Breaking Dawn,” Maj. A. said, referring to the three-day clash last August, when the PIJ fired over 1,100 rockets at Israel and the IDF responded with some 147 airstrikes against the terror group. “They rebuilt the site and we found it again and hit it. These precise actions create a sense of persecution in the PIJ.”

It’s a Sisyphean job, he acknowledged.

“It’s a continuous struggle,” he said. “The enemy does not give up and does not concede and is constantly thinking of how to trick us, how to improve and make it difficult [for us]. We need to constantly be creative in order to expose them and delay their processes.”

Some of that creativity was revealed by Lieut. E., a visual intelligence specialist, who told Walla that artificial intelligence was used in the operation as well as new, unspecified tools.

Lieut. Y., who heads the PIJ section in the intelligence unit, explained that the successful strikes on the weapons-production sites the unit had found will affect the terror group in the long run as well, as “they don’t have an endless supply of weapons.” The fact that the IDF regularly locates and shuts down smuggling routes in ways she refused to divulge also contributes to the shortage, she added.

The officer estimates that it will be two years before the terror group manages to replenish what it had lost in these five days, which “pushes off the next war with the PIJ.”

The post Behind the scenes: How did the IDF destroy Islamic Jihad terror infrastructure? appeared first on World Israel News.

“Are we now supposed to save the lives of terrorists who want to kill us?” asks outraged combat soldier.

By World Israel News Staff

A leaked IDF memo outlining a new policy that prioritizes saving the lives of wounded terrorists before ensuring that they cannot harm troops or civilians sparked major backlash among soldiers, politicians, and security-focused NGOs in Israel.

An internal army document obtained by Hebrew-language Channel 14 News revealed instructions that troops “should immediately [provide life-saving] care to wounded terrorists,” and that they “do not need to wait for a saboteur” to confirm the terrorist is unarmed.

Typically, after an exchange of fire between terrorists and security forces, a saboteur will check that a wounded terrorist isn’t armed with an explosive belt or other device that could maim or kill nearby soldiers or civilians.

It’s not clear what triggered this change in policy, which appears to suggest that saving the life of a terrorist who engaged in a gun battle or threw explosive devices at soldiers is more important than guaranteeing the safety of those nearby.

“We didn’t know that this is what they wanted us to do in [the event of] a terror attack, and if [we were faced] with this situation in the field, all of us agree that we would not treat the terrorist [before confirming he is unarmed,]” an active duty combat soldier told Channel 14 News, speaking anonymously.

“Please do something about this. These [directives] don’t make sense anymore, it’s not enough that we’re dealing with rock-throwers and curses and everything else we have to endure, we’re now supposed to save the lives of terrorists who want to kill us?”

MK Tali Gottlieb (Likud) responded to the directive on Twitter, writing that “the clearly illegal order to treat wounded terrorists before the arrival of a saboteur to check if there is explosive material on their bodies is crazy.”

Gottlieb added that those who “are merciful to the cruel will be cruel to the righteous. The blood of our heroic soldiers [matters more] than the blood of the terrorists. This insane and dangerous order will be canceled.”

MK Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) reposted the Channel 14 report about the directive on his Twitter account, captioning it “madness in the [defense] system.”

The Zionist Betzalmo NGO wrote an open letter to senior IDF officials, urging the military’s top brass to rescind the policy and favor soldiers’ lives over those of wounded terrorists.

The post New IDF policy: Prioritize terrorists’ lives over safety of troops, civilians appeared first on World Israel News.

PM Netanyahu has toured the Emirates on previous occasions, but never in an official capacity as Head of State on a diplomatic visit.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to finally visit the United Arab Emirates on his first state visit to the Gulf country, nearly three years after he helped secure the historic Abraham Accords agreements that saw Israel normalize relations with the country.

Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog were invited by Emirati officials to visit the country for the COP28 climate change conference, which is slated to be held in November.

The COp28 conference will include leaders from around the world and aims to establish a “clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to inclusive climate action,” according to a press release from the Emirati government.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was recently re-admitted to the Arab League after his exclusion from the entity due his human rights violations in the ongoing civil war in the Levantine country, also reportedly received an invitation to the conference.

Notably, Netanyahu has toured the Emirates on previous occasions, but never in an official capacity as Head of State on a diplomatic visit. Should the conference visit in November come to fruition, it will mark Netanyahu’s first formal visit to the country within his official capacity as premier.

In September 2020, Netanyahu signed the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain, which has seen the countries engage in economic and security cooperation, direct flights, and mutual investment for the first time.

Netanyahu was originally meant to visit the Emirates several months after signing the deal, but he postponed his trip due to the coronavirus pandemic. A new date for the premier to visit the country was set for summer 2021, but political tensions stemming from the May 2021 Guardian of the Walls Israel-Gaza clash saw the UAE rescind the invitation.

Earlier this year, yet another rescheduled visit for Netanyahu was canceled by Abu Dhabi due to anger over National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount.

The post Netanyahu to visit UAE on first-ever state trip for climate conference appeared first on World Israel News.

Christiane Amanpour apologizes more than a month after falsely implying that British-Israeli women, who were murdered at point blank range by terrorists, were armed and had been exchanging fire with their killers.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

More than a month after veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour falsely stated that Lucy Dee and her two daughters were killed “in a shoot-out,” the reporter formally apologized for implying that the women had been armed when they were murdered.

“On April 10, I referred to the murders of an Israeli family: Lucy, Maia and Rina Dee, the wife and daughters of Rabbi Leo Dee. I misspoke and said they were killed in a ‘shoot-out’ instead of a shooting,” Amanpour said in an on-air apology broadcast on May 22.

“I have written to Rabbi Leo Dee to apologize and make sure that he knows that we apologize for any further pain that may have caused him.”

Notably, Amanpour’s apology failed to acknowledge that the women had been killed in a terror attack, nor did it refer to the perpetrators of the murders or their ideology.

Last month, pro-Israel advocacy group Honest Reporting posted a clip on their Twitter account of Amanpour discussing the murders of the three women on TV.

Lucy Dee and her daughters Maia and Rina were shot to death in their car at point blank range by terrorists in an unprovoked attack.

But when Amanpour described the attack, she said that they were “killed in a shoot-out,” implying that the British-Israeli women were armed and defending themselves in an exchange of fire with the terrorists.

“A shoot-out is two sides firing at each other,” Honest Reporting posted as a caption to the clip. “A mother and her two daughters were shot at close range by Palestinian terrorists.”

Addressing Amanpour, they wrote that “you owe a grieving family an apology.”

Rabbi Leo Dee, the widower and father of the victims, was outraged by Amanpour’s characterization of the murders.

“This is the perfect example of ‘terror journalism’ where you have a moral equivalence between the terrorist and victim,” Dee said in a media statement.

“This type of journalism perpetuates the conflict in the Middle East. The real cycle of violence is a comment like this followed by a terrorist atrocity and then more of the same.”

The post After lying about terror victims, CNN apologizes appeared first on World Israel News.

On Sunday night, tragedy struck Thibodaux, Louisiana, when two gunmen opened fire at a graduation party on Hyland Drive, sending nine people to the hospital.

Seven individuals were left with gunshot wounds, while two others were hurt as the large crowd scrambled away. The victims ranged from 17 to 25 years of age, with two males and seven female victims among them. Fortunately, none of the injured were killed.

Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craige Webre affirmed that eight of the wounded individuals had been released from the hospital by Monday afternoon. Deputies recovered one gun and multiple casings from two different firearms, a hint that there were two shooters.

According to locals, the Merrydale neighborhood hosts an annual block party during this particular time of year. Since the shooting, the atmosphere has shifted. In response, the deputies at the Sheriff’s department have asked that anyone with any details about the event should come forward.

The victims and their loved ones remain in everyone’s thoughts and prayers. Authorities have asked the public to help locate the perpetrators, and we hope that justice is served and the community finds peace in the coming days. This investigation is still ongoing.

Esra Haynes was a 13-year-old student with an ambitious future. The Lilydale High School student from Melbourne’s outer east became a statistic when she passed away after inhaling chemicals from a deodorant can.

Her parents, Paul and Andrea, had no idea this would be their daughter’s fate until paramedics arrived and revealed Esra had been experimenting with a dangerous activity known as chroming. It is a new craze that has swept across social media platforms where you inhale fumes from aerosol cans for a quick high.

Despite the best efforts of the paramedics, the damage was done. Esra experienced cardiac arrest and was rushed to the hospital. Her brain endured irreversible damage, and her parents were forced to make the painful decision to withdraw her life support a week after the incident.

Esra isn’t the only teen in Australia to lose her life to chroming, prompting Coles and Woolworths to lock up their deodorant supplies in 2021 and alarming the Victorian Education Department into providing information to school children about the deadly practice.

Paul and Andrea Haynes are determined to do something to help other families avoid their heartbreak. Alongside promoting awareness and speaking out about the dangers of chroming, they’re advocating for several safety measures, from chemical reform in deodorant cans to better social media safeguards. The couple also wants to ensure every Australian schoolchild is taught what to do in a first-aid emergency.

Through their sorrow, the Haynes have put their energy into serving as a voice for Esra. Referencing the literal meaning of her name, Mr. Haynes explains to the outlet: “Her name meant helper, so that’s what we’re here to do.”

May 23rd, 2023, marks the 20th anniversary of a very pivotal decision made by L. Paul Bremer, who led Iraq’s provisional government after the 2003 invasion and began the transition to a post-Saddam democracy.   Bremer chose to disband the Iraqi military, including the elite Republican Guard, which had steadfastly supported Saddam Hussein.  Reflectively, that seemed like a wise decision at the time: why retain the very core of the regime which was just military toppled? Yet, this seemingly commonsensical decision had terrible unforeseen consequences.

In disbanding Iraq’s professional military class, many of them officers with few other skills, Bremer created a cadre of allies for the newly emerging terrorist group that would become ISIS.  Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi had formed the progenitor of ISIS, Al-Qaeda Iraq, and was intent on fostering a bloody Sunni-Shia war to make the transition to Iraqi democracy untenable.  Into the arms of this radical Sunni terror group these ex-Baathist military personnel fled.  An unholy alliance of ISIS and ex-Baathists made the rebuilding of Iraq a veritable hell on Earth.  Today, we’re fortunate that ISIS is only a shadow of its former self and, though still a threat, nowhere near the heyday it once had when its late “caliph,” Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, delivered a sermon from the Blue Mosque in Mosul on June 9, 2014.

What made the occupation and transition of Iraq, or Afghanistan for that matter, so difficult?  The Taliban, formerly led by Mullah Omar, had sheltered Osama bin Laden, giving the U.S. a genuine post-9/11 pretext for invading.  Yet unlike Iraq following America’s withdrawal, local government and military forces were corrupt and insufficient for stopping a Taliban resurgence, which returned to Afghan power in 2021.  The “War on Terror” covered a political legacy of twenty years, with very mixed, and particularly in Afghanistan regrettably disappointing results.  What gave us the hubris to attempt this, and where did our judgment go wrong?

There was some historical precedent for success.  Post-WWII, the U.S. had been able to install functioning democratic regimes in both Japan and West Germany, but the political and cultural circumstances in both places were vastly different than both Iraq and Afghanistan.   Both Japan and Germany had been highly economically and technologically advanced and so there were competent people to hand the implements of power to after the war.  In Japan, racial and cultural homogeneity assured a vastly greater degree of consensus than in polarized Iraq.  Iraq had the curious curse of being a majority Shia Muslim nation under a minority Sunni Baathist dictatorship.  In Germany, matters were in some sense “simplified” by the division of East and West Germany, but history records what failure the East was under Communism, contrasted to the West under democracy and a free market.  Neither the economic and political institutions nor the sense of cultural and religious unity were present in Iraq or Afghanistan.  So, what are the conditions sufficient for the restoration and rebuilding of a country?

First, the political illness that afflicted it must be thoroughly defeated both militarily and ideologically.  

Second, there should be sufficient economic factors in place to rebuild the country, to make radical options less attractive.

Third, that a cultural belief be in place that glues the country together and builds consensus towards a new direction of political and economic development.

Fourth, that no strategic decisions are taken which severely hamper the process.

There certainly may be other essential factors, but for the purpose of this short article these may suffice.  Looking above, Paul Bremer’s May 23rd decision violates the last proposition, yet he had no way of knowing this at the time.  As sensible as it may have seemed in the present moment, in hindsight it was a regrettable blunder.  No harsh blame might lay with him for, in addition, one can argue that many of the other factors were also not aligned.  Al-Qaeda had not been defeated ideologically, for Zarqawi gave his fealty to it in 2003 (factor #1).  There was certainly not the cultural glue and unity in Iraq necessary for rapid reunification and consensus in a new direction (factor 3).  And what economy (factor 2) did Iraq have to put people back to work and divert them from fighting?

If there are conditions where Just War theory can be applied, or where non-violent resistance (as with Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr.) is most apt, there ought also to be a greater sense of what builds, and rebuilds, a nation.  Many of the factors above could be tailored to examine the political health and vitality of any nation, not just those which have had an unjust regime toppled.  Factor 3, the “cultural belief be in place that glues the country together and builds consensus,” is unfortunately even in question in this nation.  With ardent Trump supporters on one end of the spectrum and a polarizing liberal agenda on the other, the United States’ political fabric is strained. All who love America hope to have the words and actions to bring us together around a more viable consensus.

Twenty years after Bremer’s decision we find ourselves again in similarly turbulent waters.  There are currents of hope, but also disturbing undercurrents of chaos and disharmony.  Understanding the signs of the times and seriously reading the political climate is a task which never ends.  Politics is a fight for justice, and against injustice, vacillating in the crosswinds of power and truth.  Mindful of the many blessings we do have, it is a relief to go to sleep in a nation with still so much promise.  Yet to close our eyes to ongoing perils, the tasks of restoring good beliefs and political-economic institutions that sustain democracy, is to invite reliving a nightmare.  Moving forward, it must be known that a nation does not just boil down to politics or economy, though the health of these is essential.  The health of a nation is also measured by a possible consensus of good belief, that the way forward unites us in trust and confidence.

The post Iraq, Afghanistan, and America – 20 Years Later appeared first on Providence.