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The US State Department announced plans on Monday to promote online youth groups as a new and powerful way to fight crime, political oppression and terrorism. Drawing inspiration from a movement against FARC rebels in Colombia, the State Department is joining forces with Facebook, Google, MTV, Howcast and others in New York City next week to get the "ball rolling." It said 17 groups from South Africa, Britain and the Middle East which have an online presence like the "Million Voices Against the FARC" will attend a conference at Columbia University Law School from December 3-5. Observers from seven organizations...

Yeah, another bombshell. This is a subtle yet significant deal, completely under the radar screen and not reported anywhere, to my knowledge. This is a very slick move, IMO. 1: Israel recognizes Somaliland statehood 2: Who even knew that there was an entity separate from Somalia "Somaliland"? 3: Israel recognizes S-Land well before the UN recognizes it as a state. Very pre-emptive. 4: Israel and S-Land sign cooperation and development deal(s) 5: Possibly this creates a platform where states in that region find out that peaceful cooperation w/Israel can be highly advanatageous. Yeah, sure? 6: While there is certain to...

'I want to pay tribute to Alaa's family and to all those that have worked and campaigned for this moment,' Starmer said. 'Alaa's case has been a top priority for my government since we came to office. I'm grateful to President Sisi for his decision to grant the pardon.' Per his X Acct: “ I Fu&$ing hate white people, they don't understand sharing or community. a blight on the earth they are. good thing they stopped breeding.”

Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – It only took a matter of minutes after the heavy overnight rain first began to fall for Jamil al-Sharafi's tent in southern Gaza to flood, drenching his food and leaving his blankets sopping wet. The winter rains have made an already precarious life worse for people like Sharafi, who is among the hundreds of thousands in the Palestinian territory displaced by the war, many of whom now survive on aid provided by humanitarian organisations. "My children are shivering from cold and fear... The tent was completely flooded within minutes," Sharafi, 47, said on Sunday....

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday announced today the official recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state. Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and the President of the Republic of Somaliland signed a joint and mutual declaration. “This declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, signed at the initiative of President Trump,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. Prime Minister Netanyahu congratulated the President of Somaliland, Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdallah, and praised his leadership and commitment to promoting stability and peace. The Prime Minister invited the President to pay an official visit...

Sir Keir Starmer is facing criticism for celebrating the return of a British democracy activist from detention in Egypt in light of his past social media posts. The Prime Minister said on Friday that he was “delighted” that Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who was released from prison in September after receiving a presidential pardon, had been reunited with his loved ones in the UK. The sentiment was echoed by Cabinet ministers including Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Justice Secretary David Lammy with similar posts. The Jewish Leadership Council, a charity which represents Jewish organisations across the UK, criticised the “effusive welcome”...

While the world’s attention is focused on the combat transpiring in Libya and the events in Egypt and Bahrain, Yemen has also descended into crisis. The country is deeply split over its support for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and this profound divide has also extended to the most powerful institutions in the country — the military and the tribes — with some factions calling for Saleh to relinquish power and others supporting him. The tense standoff in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa has served to divert attention (and security forces) from other parts of the country. On March 28,...

00:00 – Why Hamas Is a Religious Movement, Not a Nationalist One 08:05 – Why Islam Claims Land Can Never Leave Muslim Rule 13:20 – Why Western Leaders Misread Hamas’s Intentions 14:45 – October 7: What Hamas Was Trying to Achieve 16:55 – Why Western Media Repeats Hamas Casualty Claims 18:58 – What Jihad Really Means in Islamic Doctrine 23:40 – Demographic and Cultural Jihad in the West 25:10 – Qatar’s Role in Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood 27:25 – How Qatar Became a Global Islamist Power Broker 29:40 – Iran, Hamas, and the Sunni–Shia Alliance Against Israel 30:35 – Debating...

...for over two millennia, the great civilizations of the Mediterranean... possessed copper in abundance. They had gold, timber, and grain... What they did not have was tin... in the early centuries, tin came from... Central and South Asia, from the Zeravshan Valley in what is now Tajikistan and the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan... By the Late Bronze Age, the kingdoms had turned to the sea... In 1982, a sponge diver off the coast of Grand Cape in Turke... found what came to be known as the Uluburun shipwreck... mostly, it carried metal. There were ten tons of copper, in the...

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign on Monday, accusing him of engaging in the cover-up of the Qatargate affair, which Bennett called “the most serious act of treason in Israeli history.” The statement from Bennett, who is running against Netanyahu in next year’s election, follows new revelations about the scandal. The affair involves allegations that top aides to the prime minister were acting as paid lobbyists for Qatar, where Hamas’s leadership is based, while simultaneously working for Netanyahu. On Sunday, i24 News reported that communication between the suspects showed they had fabricated information,...

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have presented a $112 billion reconstruction plan to Gulf officials to build a “high-tech metropolis” atop the remains of Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The 32-page PowerPoint presentation labeled "sensitive" and titled "Project Sunrise" was developed over 45 days and reportedly presented to officials from Qatar, UAE, Egypt, and Turkiye. The plan envisions turning the Gaza Strip into a "high-tech metropolis" over the next two decades with four phases of reconstruction beginning in southern Gaza. It also calls for turning Rafah into Gaza's new "administrative center," housing over 500,000...

Koshary – a spicy dish of lentils, rice and pasta available at countless Egyptian food stalls – won recognition as a cultural treasure from the UN’s cultural agency on Wednesday, as Cairo makes a broad push to promote its cultural and historical identity abroad. Egypt’s nomination of koshary for UNESCO’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage” list comes a little over a month after its opening of a sprawling new antiquities museum – another move officials hope will highlight the country’s rich history and lure more tourists.

When deadly clashes erupted last July between Bedouin and Druze militias in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, some members of the Druze community living in Israel crossed the border to protect their kin. For Safi Ibrahim, an IDF colonel from the community, the crisis sparked genuine solidarity and brought emotions to the surface. As part of the events, he participated in a military operation in Syria – a mission that became deeply personal for him, fusing his military service with his identity. snip Unlike the Druze of the Galilee and Carmel – who serve proudly and prominently in the...

An international team of researchers have successfully recovered and analysed ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies dating from approximately 1400 BCE to 400 BCE, including the first genome-wide data from three individuals. The study found that modern Egyptians share more ancestry with sub-Saharan Africans than ancient Egyptians did, whereas ancient Egyptians were found to be most closely related to ancient people from the Middle East and Western Asia. This study counters prior scepticism about the possibility of recovering reliable ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies. Despite the potential issues of degradation and contamination caused by climate and mummification methods, the authors were...

The most direct way to answer the ancestry question is through genetics. Recent studies of ancient DNA (aDNA) have provided a robust, chronologically consistent picture of the Egyptian people’s origins, showing remarkable stability over thousands of years, followed by gradual admixture. Genetic evidence shows that the foundational population of the Nile Valley was established long before the first dynasty. During the “Green Sahara” period (approx. 11,000 to 5,000 years ago), populations migrated towards the Nile from all directions as the Sahara dried, creating a unique, indigenous mix of Northeast African peoples and migrants from the Near East. A breakthrough 2025...

A central claim among those who deny a link between ancient and modern Egyptians is that subsequent invasions replaced the original population. This is not supported by demographic, genetic, or linguistic evidence. Genetic studies show ancient Egypt DNA continues.The Greek and Roman Periods: The Ptolemaic Greeks and later the Romans ruled as small, elite minorities. Their demographic footprint on the overall gene pool of Egypt was negligible.The Arab Conquest (7th Century CE): This was the most significant cultural event, introducing Arabic and Islam. However, this was a case of elite dominance and cultural diffusion, not population replacement. The Genetic Impact:...

Iran and Egypt have complained to FIFA after Seattle designated their World Cup game as a ‘Pride Match’. The fixture, between two countries in which homosexuality is outlawed, is meant to honour the LGBTQ+ community in the liberal city and the clash was pencilled in before it was known which sides would be involved. Due to take place on June 26, it coincides with Seattle’s Pride Weekend. However, the federations of each Muslim country have now contacted FIFA to express their opposition, in what is a growing, diplomatic incident more than six months out from tournament kick-off. Iranian Football Federation...

At first glance, Mike Waltz’s visit to Israel this week may look like a new UN ambassador’s routine orientation tour – a series of meetings, border briefings, and handshakes meant to signal continuity. But nothing about the timing or the choreography of this particular visit suggests anything routine. Waltz’s first major foreign trip since taking office is not just a symbolic gesture. It is the operational rollout of the Trump administration’s Gaza plan, carried out under the umbrella of UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which the US drafted and pushed through. And the visit comes just days after the UN...

During a meeting in Washington between Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a first-of-its-kind global parliamentary initiative was launched: an international effort to recommend former and current U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also participated in the meeting. At its conclusion, Ohana and Johnson signed an official letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee calling for Trump to be selected as the 2026 laureate. The initiative follows a plan announced by Ohana during Trump’s recent visit to Israel and a speech Johnson delivered in Congress the...

A team of Italian scientists took the world by storm last March when they announced the discovery of a colossal underground complex plunging nearly 3,500 feet beneath Egypt's Giza Plateau and linking chambers the size of city blocks. Now Filippo Biondi, the radar engineer who developed the imaging method, has gone public with evidence that he said leaves little room for doubt.In a new interview on Jesse Michels' American Alchemy podcast, Biondi revealed that four independent satellite operators, Umbra, Capella Space, ICEYE and Italy's Cosmo-SkyMed, all returned identical raw tomography data showing the same structures.>>>Each shaft has a central column...