The former Israeli army trainer of a military dog killed in action said he is saddened that the death a Palestinian girl got less media coverage


Bethany Dawson
Sun, August 14, 2022 

Ben Silberstein (right) and Zili, the dog he trained (left) with a handler from Israel's National Counter Terror UnitBen Silberstein

Former IDF soldier Ben Silberstein trained a dog called Zili and died in a shootout with Palestinian militants.

Silberstein took to Facebook to remember the dog but also to highlight a Palestinian girl's death.

"An Israeli dog that is killed captures more media coverage than a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza," he said.

Zili was a nine-year-old male Belgian Malinois that served with Israel's elite Yamam counterterrorism police unit.

The dog had been on duty in hundreds of operations, say local reports, but last week was his final mission. Zili died in a shootout in Nablus on the West Bank earlier this week.

Zili's unit exchanged fire with three suspected Palestinian militants, including Ibrahim Nabulsi, 26, a wanted senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, according to the BBC.

Nabulsi was killed, along with two other militants, and 40 Palestinian were injured. The dog was the only Israeli causality reported.

His bravery was lauded in Israel. "Zili was part of the unit, appreciated and professional. He will be missed by the unit, the dog handlers and the fighters he accompanied on numerous operational missions," Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement, per i24 News.

Ben Silberstein, 29, the former IDF soldier who trained Zili, his namesake, took to Facebook to remember the dog and also to highlight the moral ambiguity of the treatment of a dog's death in the wider context of the civilian victims of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"I must admit that I initially felt mixed feelings regarding the story – on the one hand, sadness for the loss of a dog that I knew from the day he was born, and pride that his name is being shared by so many people and referred to as a 'hero'," he wrote.

But, he added: "I am indeed a dog person, but I am also a people person. The death of a 5-year-old girl saddens me, the indifference to her death saddens me."

Silberstein was apparently referring to the death of five-year-old Alaa Qadoum, who was playing outside a relative's home in the Gaza Strip when an Israeli airstrike hit the street and killed her, The New York Times reported.

She was one of the victims of the latest bout of fighting earlier this month between Israel and Palestinian militants based in the Gaza Strip. It began when Israeli forces assassinated the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The militants responded by firing hundreds of rockets into Israel, mostly shot down by the Iron Dome defense system.

After three days of fighting, 49 Palestinian civilians were dead. Thirty were killed during Israeli strikes, including 17 civilians, among them three girls, a boy, and four women. Botched launches of Palestinian rockets killed 19, including 12 children, according to a report by Haaretz.

"The reality in which we live is a reality that an Israeli dog that is killed captures more media coverage than a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza," he wrote on Facebook.

"I loved Zili," wrote Silberstein, "I know he did a lot of good things to protect me and my friends, both in the army and outside of it. Even now - I hope he helps me bring up an issue that is important to me to be discussed and that I hope will even better protect me and my friends in the future. May his memory be a blessing."

"She was an innocent little girl"

The grandfather of Palestinian girl Alaa Qadoum carries her body in Gaza City on. August 5.

Ashraf Amra/Reuters

Alaa Qadoum was killed around 4:30 p.m. on August 5 by an Israeli airstrike in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City.

Alaa instantly died when shrapnel hit her forehead, chest, and right leg, according to Mohammed Abu Selmeyeh, director of Al Shifa Hospital, per Middle East Eye.

"She was an innocent little girl," her grandfather said, per The New York Times. "Was she launching rockets on the border? She was a child who wanted to see her whole life ahead of her."
We have to humanize casualties to end the conflict, says former IDF soldier

Speaking to Insider, Silberstein said that he made his Facebook post to draw attention to what he believes needs to be done to end the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"We need to speak about the casualties of this conflict on both sides," he said "If it's a dog, if it's a five-year-old kid from Gaza, or an Israeli soldier, Israeli civilian, or Palestinian civilian. I just think that we have to speak about it more, that's the only way we can go into reconciliation between the two peoples."

He added that it is important to focus on what living amid perpetual conflict means. He described communities "wounded by anxiety," tormented by the knowledge that they or their loved ones could be killed at any moment.

Silberstein now works for the Geneva Initiative, a joint Israel-Palestine organization that is working to end the conflict.

Independence day speech: PM Narendra Modi calls on Indians to fight misogyny

Geeta Pandey and Cherylann Mollan - BBC News
Mon, August 15, 2022 

PM Modi addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort

On Monday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the citizens from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort on the occasion of India's 75th birthday.

Upon his arrival at the 17th Century monument, Mr Modi unfurled the national flag and was greeted by a 21-gun salute. As he took to the stage, helicopters flew past, showering flower petals on the flag.

In a speech watched by millions of Indians on live TV, Mr Modi spoke on a plethora of issues, laying out a roadmap for the country's development, calling for an end to misogyny and weeding out corruption and nepotism.

Here are some of the highlights:

'Do nothing that lowers the dignity of women'

In his first Independence-Day speech after taking over as prime minister in 2014, Mr Modi had condemned rapes in India and questioned parents for putting restrictions on their daughters while letting their sons do as they pleased.

On Monday too, he spoke about gender equality and emphasised the importance of treating sons and daughters as equal at home.

"Maybe this is not a topic for the Red Fort, but who else can I share my pain with if not with the people of my country?" he said.

"For some reason, a distortion has crept into our conduct, our behaviour, our words so at times we insult women. Can we take a pledge to stop this behaviour?" he asked.

Mr Modi emphasized the need for gender equality in India

Paying tributes to several women freedom fighters, Mr Modi said women's role in India's progress was ever growing.

Hailing women's work in judiciary, governance, academics, science and sports, the prime minister said that respect for women was key to India's growth and "we need to support our nari shakti" (woman power).

"For India to achieve the goals envisioned by its freedom fighters in the next 25 years, women have to play a critical role. If we uplift women and empower them, we can achieve our goals quickly and easily.

"The more opportunities we give to our daughters, the more they will take India forward," he said.

Mr Modi's emphasis on gender equality hits all the right notes but critics point out that 75 years after independence, India remains a largely patriarchal society where misogyny is rampant.

Some took to social media to point out the misogynistic comments made by Mr Modi himself or his party members and said that to make India a gender just society, we need much more than lip service.
'Our wait for 5G is over'

The announcement that India will soon have 5G mobile services will make many happy in a country with a young population and 1.2 billion mobile phone subscribers.

With more than 500 million internet users, India is among the fastest-growing digital markets with more and more people logging in. But the growth has been uneven, mostly restricted to cities and towns while millions in rural areas have to put up with patchy connectivity.

India recently sold spectrum for 5G airwaves for approximately $19bn and reports say that the much-awaited high-speed mobile services would be launched in a few weeks.

5G services are expected to be rolled out in October this year

In his speech on Monday, Mr Modi said that digital services would reach every village and that 400,000 digital entrepreneurs were being trained in rural areas.

"India's techade [tech decade] is here. With 5G, semiconductor manufacturing and Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs) in villages, we will bring in revolutions in education, health and agriculture to the grassroots level," he said.

"The Digital India Movement can bring about revolutionary changes in India and in the lives of the common man," he added.'

'Corruption and nepotism'

In an apparent attack on his political opponents, Mr Modi said two of the biggest challenges facing India were "corruption and nepotism".

"Corruption is hollowing out the country like a termite and we will have to fight it. We are going against those who have looted the country and we are trying to get the loot back. We are entering a decisive phase and no high or mighty would be spared now."

Mr Modi said "while some people did not have homes, others did not have enough space to keep their ill-gotten wealth" and wondered why people felt sympathy for those politicians who had been jailed for corruption.

"For this mentality to end," he said "people must hate corruption and the corrupt and look down upon them socially."

In the same breath, Mr Modi talked about nepotism, calling on "citizens of India to stand against dynasty and dynastic politics".

Since its independence in 1947, India has been ruled for a large part by the Congress party which is led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Many Indian states are also ruled by local political families.

Mr Modi, who often speaks proudly of his humble origins, never fails to take potshots at dynasties and Monday's speech was no different.
'Nepotism is not just in politics'

But on this occasion, Mr Modi went a step ahead to say that when he talked about nepotism, it was not just about politics.

"Dynasty kills merit, but unfortunately dynasty is not just limited to politics. We need to discourage this in institutions, in sports. We need to start a revolution against it."

Mr Modi credited India's recent success in sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to the transparency in the selection process of athletes.

"It's not that we didn't have talent earlier, but transparent selection bereft of nepotism has led to Indians winning medals," he said.

Some, however, have pointed out that Mr Modi's government has been spending more money on athletes, but India's medal haul has been better in the past - in Birmingham, India won 61 medal while in 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India's tally was 101.

Expert advances ‘active’ pilot theory after MH370 crash investigation, ATSB orders search data review

Ryan General

• British aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey has pinpointed what he claims to be the location of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370).
• The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft carrying 239 people mysteriously disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
• Previous multinational search efforts failed to find the wreckage of the plane.
• According to Godfrey, Flight 370 hit the ocean about 1200 miles (1,933 kilometers) west of Perth, Australia, and some 13,123 feet (4,000 meters) under the water.
• Godfrey pinpointed the location using Weak Signal Propagation Reporter analysis to monitor radio frequency disturbances the plane created around the world.
• Godfrey also noticed irregular patterns the aircraft made throughout its journey that fateful day which shows that pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah may have contributed to causing the plane to go off course.
• It remains unclear whether the new findings will lead to renewed efforts to search for the wreckage in the new location.
• Australian Transport Safety Bureau released a statement saying that Godfrey is a credible expert on the subject of MH370 but declined to endorse a new search.

A retired aerospace engineer believes he has uncovered the whereabouts of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), the passenger aircraft from Malaysia that disappeared nearly eight years ago, after conducting an unofficial investigation. His findings have led to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to order a review of search data.

The Malaysian Airlines flight shocked the world when it mysteriously “vanished,” along with the 239 people on board (227 passengers and 12 crew), while traveling to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.

The global effort to find the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft began in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea before eventually extending to the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea. The four-year search, which eventually became known as the most expensive aviation search in history for its $200 million cost, yielded no wreckage from the doomed flight.

According to retired British aerospace engineer and physicist Richard Godfrey, flight 370 could have fallen into the ocean about 1,200 miles (1,933 kilometers) west of Perth, Australia, and some 13,123 feet (4,000 meters) under the water in an area known as the “seventh arc.”

Godfrey determined the plane’s purported final destination by using Weak Signal Propagation Reporter analysis to monitor radio frequency disturbances the plane created around the world.  

He pointed out the irregular patterns the aircraft made throughout its journey, such as the 360-degree turns it made over the ocean

In an interview with “60 Minutes Australia” on Sunday, Godfrey said, “Everyone has assumed up until now there was a straight path, perhaps even on autopilot. I believe there was an active pilot for the whole flight.”

Godfrey said such aircraft behavior shows pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah appears to have caused the plane to go off course deliberately, supporting a theory about the pilot’s alleged involvement in the crash

He revealed that the plane displayed an unusual holding pattern for around 20 minutes, about three hours into the flight. A pilot typically keeps the plane in the holding pattern within specified airspace, which happens when an aircraft is waiting for permission to leave or getting ready before a landing.

“He may have just simply wanted time to make up his mind, where he would go from here,” he told “60 Minutes Australia.” “I hope that if there was any contact with Malaysian authorities that after eight years now they’d be willing to divulge that.”

He then showed 160 points pinned on a map where radio frequency signals over the Indian Ocean were purportedly disturbed by MH370

In a statement, the ATSB wrote that Godfrey is a credible expert on the subject of MH370 and that it had ordered Geoscience Australia review its search data “to re-validate that no items of interest were detected” in the search area recommended by Godfrey. The Bureau concluded by saying that any further searches would be up to the Malaysian government, however.

“The ATSB acknowledges the importance of locating the aircraft to provide answers and closure to the families of those who lost loved ones,” ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell noted. “The ATSB remains an interested observer in all efforts to find the missing aircraft.

Featured Image via 60 Minutes Australia (left) CGTN (right)

MY THEORY IS THAT MH370 WAS TAKEN DOWN BY A WATERSPOUT

PM Kishida vows Japan will never again wage war as China, S. Korea condemn visits to Yasukuni Shrine



Michelle De Pacina

NextShark

Mon, August 15, 2022 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed his country would never again wage war during a ceremony on the anniversary of Japan’s World War II defeat.

In Kishida’s first address since taking office in October, he promised Japan would “never again repeat the horrors of war” at a somber ceremony on Monday which marked the 77th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender.

“I will continue to live up to this determined oath,” Kishida said. “In a world where conflicts are still unabated, Japan, under the banner of proactive pacifism, will do its utmost to work together with the international community to resolve the various challenges facing the world.”

In his speech, Kishida highlighted the damages Japan has suffered from the U.S. atomic bombings during World War II, and he said that the prosperity that Japan has today is due to the sacrifices of those who died in the war.

The anniversary is traditionally marked by visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates those who died in service of Japan, including 14 wartime leaders who were convicted as war criminals. The visits, which often spark disputes, are viewed by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.

Although Kishida did not visit the shrine, he reportedly sent a religious ornament, as he also did in 2021, as an offering instead. Three of his cabinet members, including Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, Disaster Reconstruction Minister Kenya Akiba and Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, decided to visit the shrine.

“I paid respects to the spirits of those who sacrificed their lives for the national policy,” Takaichi reportedly told reporters, while also noting her prayer for the end of the war in Ukraine.

“In any country, it is natural to pay respects to those who sacrificed their lives to their nation,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno reportedly said, defending the visits. “There is no change to Japan’s policy of strengthening its ties with its neighbors China and South Korea.”

However, the shrine visits continue to spark criticism from China and South Korea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wengbin said Japan needs to “deeply reflect” on its history and to gain the trust of its Asian neighbors by acting responsibly.

“Some Japanese political figures frequently distort and glorify the history of aggression in various ways, and openly violate the Cairo Declaration and other important legal documents that clearly provide for the return of Taiwan to China,” Wang said.

In South Korea, officials have expressed “deep disappointment” towards the shrine visits, which they believe beautifies Japan’s past invasions.

“The Korean government is urging Japan’s responsible people to face history and show humble reflection and genuine reflection on the past through action,” a spokesperson for South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly said in a statement.

The day also marks the National Liberation Day of Korea, a holiday that is celebrated in both North and South Korea. It annually commemorates Victory over Japan Day, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union restored Korea’s independence after 35 years of Japanese rule.

Featured Image via Reuters

Korea Inc's foreign labour crunch puts older workers back in factories

The skyline of central Seoul is seen during a foggy day in Seoul

Mon, August 15, 2022 
By Cynthia Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - When Hwang Kwang-jo's factory in Seoul faced a staffing crunch earlier this year after the departure of Nepalese workers and younger locals, he hired a 61-year-old to pick up some of the work.

While the job, which involves handling heavy alloy bars, is less than ideal for workers close to retirement, the pandemic has diminished South Korea's pool of foreign labour, forcing firms to widen the net.

Compounding that challenge is younger Koreans' reluctance to take up blue-collar jobs.

"It's incredibly difficult to fill vacancies, I never received any resumes from those in their 20s," said Hwang, chief executive at Iljin Enterprise, an aluminium moulding plant that usually employs about 35 people. "We were able to find Mr. Oh in April after the two Nepalese had to leave the country due to visa issues.

The scramble for labour in South Korea, where unemployment hit a near-record low of 2.9% in July, has led to a surge in the number of elderly people in the workforce with 58% of the job increases driven by people aged 60 and older.

But even that hasn't been enough to ease staff shortages across the industrial and farming sectors in Asia's fourth-largest economy, setting up new price pressures with inflation already running at a 24-year high.

In South Korea, the world's fastest ageing society, 33.1% of people aged between 70-74 are still working, topping the OECD's scale measuring the employment for the age group and far higher than the OECD average of 15.2%.

Central bank data shows over 230,000 of those aged 60 or over have found jobs at factories and construction sites since early 2020, while younger people have been leaving those sectors.

While South Korea's foreign worker contingent, at 848,000, is relatively small compared with other industrialised economies, migrants make an important contribution to the factory sector.

Since early 2020, the monthly inflow of new foreign workers is about 35% of what the country had in 2019, before the pandemic, government data showed.

Japan is experiencing a similar problem, with strict pandemic controls keeping migrant labour out, prompting an even greater reliance on the elderly population to fill vacancies.

Hwang at Iljin Enterprise says while the physical demands of work at his factory make it better suited for younger foreign and local workers, he doesn't have much choice.

"If I can't get any younger folks or foreign workers, it would be my bottom choice but I might need to hire more older folks," said Hwang, who recently gave all his crew a raise on top of the 700,000 won monthly bonuses he gave his foreign staff.

The government said last week it plans to loosen visa restrictions and cut red tape for foreign workers to help fill vacancies.

For Kim Ji-hwang, a land developer in Danyang, two-and-a-half hours south of Seoul, a staff shortage prompted him to hire 64-year-old Park Jang-young.

Park's new job requires him to clean trucks and equipment at the development site and earns him about 3.7 million won ($2,844.18) a month, significantly more than his previous job at a parking lot.

"I know my boss prefers to find younger folks but young people go to Seoul after graduation - even foreign workers are picky, they have a good network and community to share information about pay, working conditions," Park said. "I will stick to this job unless I get fired - it's good pay I think for my age."

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Additional reporting by Choonsik Yoo, Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Sam Holmes)

Mexican government issues temporary suspension to 10 mining concessions
Valentina Ruiz Leotaud | August 14, 2022 | 

Coal mine. (Reference image by TripodStories- AB, Wikimedia Commons).

As rescue efforts continue to release 10 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in Coahuila, Mexico’s General Directorate of Mines issued a temporary suspension to 10 mining concessions that need to prove compliance with safety standards.


In an official communiqué made public on social media, the Directorate — which is part of the Secretariat of Economy — said that, despite what is happening at the flooded Las Conchitas Norte mine, the concession that belongs to El Pinabete mining company is not among those suspended.

The decision to temporarily halt 10 mining concessions followed a series of inspections carried out by the Secretary of Labor and Social Security (STPS). During the investigation that followed the inspections, it was discovered that in December 2021, the STPS had requested the former head of the General Directorate of Mines to suspend concessions 219392, 198194, 224555, 216996, 219420, 240825-240826, 219355, 219316, 243787 and 233958.

“The then Director of Mines did not proceed with the provisional suspension of operations by arguing that the information provided by the STPS on the concessions did not match the registration data held at the General Directorate of Mines,” the statement reads.

“Taking into account this and other possible irregularities, which have been reported to the internal control office of the Secretariat of Economy, the former mining director and the work responsibilities director were dismissed back in June. The goal is now to conduct an investigation and determine responsibilities.”
Las Conchitas

In the same release, the Secretariat of Economy pointed out that it has appointed two experts from the Mexican Geological Service and a specialist in hydrogeology from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León to help the rescue efforts at Las Conchitas.

The federal government has also sent to the site a team of six special forces divers, while the National Water Commission, Pemex, and the Federal Electricity Commission sent water pumps to help drain the mine. About 92 soldiers are also working at the scene.

According to the National Defense Secretariat, there are three flooded wells that have a depth of approximately 60 metres, of which around 34 were flooded.

The accident took place on August 3, 2022, and following the flood, an inner wall collapsed.

Five miners were able to escape and received medical treatment, and two of them have already been discharged from the hospital.

In a statement last week, President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador said investigations into those responsible for the mine’s safety would come only after the rescue effort.

SERIOUSLY?!

A Desert Nation Turns to Hydroponics to Make Feed for Its Livestock

Aaron Clark
Mon, August 15, 2022



(Bloomberg) -- The United Arab Emirates is turning to vertical farming and hydroponics to produce food for local livestock as the desert nation tries to reduce its reliance on imports and shield itself from disruptions to global supply chains.Abu Dhabi-based startup World of Farming will begin building on-site operations at local farms later this year to provide fodder for meat and dairy producers that currently rely on imports for as much as 80% to 90% of their animal feed, said Faris Mesmar, chief executive officer of Hatch & Boost Ventures, a venture capital firm that launches and scales its own startups.

“This region doesn’t have a lot of arable land and the dependency on imports is becoming an issue for all local privately held and commercial farms,” said Mesmar in an interview. Local livestock producers “find themselves with no consistent access with food to feed their animals.”Land or resource-scarce countries from the Middle East to Asia are increasingly seeking to insulate themselves against food shocks and global supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, politics and extreme weather. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted supplies from one of the world’s top grain exporters, while heat waves have been wilting crops in Europe and the US.

Techniques such as hydroponics, drip irrigation and enclosed cultivation allow desert nations such as the UAE to reduce costly imports of high-value fresh produce. Dubai-based airline Emirates opened what it says is the world’s largest hydroponics farm in July to supply leafy greens for in-flight meals. Hydroponic, vertical farms typically grow plants indoors without soil, irrigating the crops with a water-based nutrient solution and often use artificial light.

Still, it’s rare to find the system used to supply animal feed. World of Farming says its technology offers fodder production with a significantly lower carbon footprint than traditional open-land agriculture and requires less water and space. The venture uses artificial intelligence and imagery to monitor the health and growth rate of plants and can optimize output depending on the changing needs of the animals they will feed.

Feed can represent more than 60% of running costs for animal protein producers, so “if vertical farming can provide a consistently affordable source of feed, it can go a long way in supporting a more resilient food system here in the UAE,” said Greg Ohannessian, co-founder of UAE-based food security consultancy Soma Mater, which has worked on vertical and hydroponics projects.

But while feed grown in vertical farms could be cheaper than imports, there are other options livestock farmers could consider to source local feed, such as creating silage from retail food waste, or producing local grasses that can tolerate high-salinity water, Ohannessian said.

World of Farming plans to build, operate and manage growing operations on private and commercial farms across the Middle East and North Africa, with livestock owners paying a monthly fee for the feed produced. Hatch & Boost has committed to pre-seed World of Farming and is aiming to secure more than $2 million in a fund-raising round later this year.

Possible strike from Belarus as Russia accumulates anti-aircraft missile systems and missiles, media


Ukrainska Pravda


MONDAY, 15 AUGUST 2022, 

Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian monitoring group, believes that Russia has accumulated a large number of anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as between 15 and 60 missiles, at the Zyabrovka airfield in Gomel Oblast, Belarus. This might indicate that Russia is planning to carry out a new large-scale attack on Ukraine.

Source: Belaruski Hajun

Quote: "Using satellite images, our team was able to produce…a complete and up-to-date overview of all equipment and weapons that are currently deployed at the Zyabrovka [airfield]."

Details: In particular, Belaruski Hajun reports that there are between 10 and 14 S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems, three KASTA-2E2 and 48Ya6-K1 Podlet radar systems, and two Pantsir anti-aircraft defence systems.

In addition, there are at least 15 and up to 60 missiles for the S-300 and S-400 missile systems at the ammunition depot in Zyabrovka.

Belaruski Hajun notes that Russian Il-76 aircraft are delivering additional S-400 missiles to the Gomel airport; after that, they are taken to Zyabrovka.

The analysts from Belaruski Hajun hypothesise that all of the above indicates that "preparations are underway for a large-scale missile strike on the territory of Ukraine in the coming weeks".

Quote: "The fact that not a single missile has been launched from the territory of Belarus since the last large-scale attack on 28 July suggests that this [the fact that Russia might be preparing for the attack] might be the case…

In addition, there is a large number of various military vehicles, equipment, trenches, tents and the like [in Zyabrovka]. We also know that there are T-72 tanks and Iskander mobile short range ballistic missile systems, which cannot be seen on the [satellite] images."

Background:

Belaruski Hajun shared a video of an explosion near the Zyabrovka airfield close to the city of Gomel.

On the night of Wednesday, 10 August, explosions rocked the area around the Zyabrovka airfield, which is located near Gomel where blasts were heard and flashes seen.

Belarusian Ministry of Defence has published its official version of reports of explosions and flashes at the Zyabrovka military airfield, citing the alleged explosion of "one of the units of equipment".

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Indian Billionaire’s Stock Holdings Worth Nearly $4 Billion in Focus After Death

Abhishek Vishnoi and Ashutosh Joshi
Tue, August 16, 2022 


(Bloomberg) -- The death of Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala puts a spotlight on the nearly $4 billion worth of stocks held by the famed investor, whose trades were closely followed.

The man known as India’s Warren Buffett died of a reported cardiac arrest Sunday at the age of 62. The self-made trader invested in a wide swathe of established businesses and startups, and served on the boards of several Indian firms.

Indian Billionaire-Investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Dies at 62

“His portfolio consists of companies which have risen from being value investments to larger players,” said Kranthi Bathini, a strategist at WealthMills Securities Pvt. Jhunjhunwala wasn’t much involved in management of companies in which he owned strategic stakes, Bathini said, adding that “these stocks are unlikely to see any major impact since his investments will be looked after by his company.”

Jhunjhunwala was among the most influential market voices in Asia’s third-biggest economy, with an intense following among the nation’s growing horde of retail investors. His investing success earned him a cult-like following, with news of his trades occasionally sparking stocks to move by their daily limits.

The man also known as “Big Bull” was a fierce backer of the India growth story. Jewelery retailer Titan Co. was one of the largest and most profitable investments for the veteran trader and his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala, making up for more than a third of their portfolio, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Their other top holdings by market value include Star Health & Allied Insurance Co., footwear maker Metro Brands Ltd. and automaker Tata Motors Ltd. Jhunjhunwala held stakes of more than 10% in Star Health, IT firm Aptech Ltd. and videogame maker Nazara Technologies Ltd.

Shares of companies in which Jhunjhunwala held stakes were mixed in Tuesday trading as the market reopened after a holiday. Titan rose about 1% and Star Health climbed as much as 2.5%, while Aptech fell more than 5%.

Jhunjhunwala’s estate, including shares and property, will be bequeathed to his wife and three children, newspaper Economic Times reported Monday, citing an unnamed person aware of the matter. The billionaire had previously worked out the plan, according to the report.

“True to his nature and unerring eye for detail, he had planned and meticulously executed a smooth transition to sustain and enhance his legacy,” Rare Enterprises Pvt., Jhunjhunwala’s investment firm, said in a statement. Rare Enterprises didn’t immediately respond to phone calls and an emailed request for details.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Jhunjhunwala in a tweet Sunday, saying the “indomitable” investor made “an indelible contribution to the financial world.”

(Adds analyst comment in third paragraph, share moves in seventh paragraph and details on transition in eight and ninth paragraphs)

‘Ticking time bomb’—China’s real estate bust deepens as housing prices fall for 11th straight month

Christiaan Hetzner
Mon, August 15, 2022 


If you’re worried about the price of, say, your Floridian beachfront property sliding, be thankful it’s not in China.

That real estate market, which propelled China’s rapid growth ever since the 2008 financial crisis, is in the midst of a housing bust that has now recorded its 11th straight month of price declines.

China may be half a world away, but its problems could soon be felt closer to home. Should its real estate malaise spill over into other sectors, it could derail a locomotive that has been pulling the global economy—and major U.S. companies like Tesla—behind it for more than a decade.

New home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, declined in July by just over 0.1% from June, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

By comparison, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index still managed to eke out a 1% month-on-month gain in May, according to the latest figures available. Industry analysts have warned of a coming correction that would particularly affect overheated markets like Austin.

“There is an urgent need for active policies around the country to stimulate a market recovery,” Yan Yuejin, research director at a Shanghai-based housing market think tank, told state-run publication Global Times on Monday.

China has for years preferred that its citizens invest in their own four walls rather than the country’s often volatile stock markets in Shanghai and tech hub Shenzhen. Given consumers received virtually no interest on bank deposits and their money is subject to strict cross-border capital controls, the population has had few other places to put their growing savings but in the housing market.

$90 billion wiped out

As a result of the credit-induced boom, Goldman Sachs famously estimated in 2019 that the country’s residential real-estate market was valued at $52 trillion, twice as big as its counterpart in the United States.

Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s expected reelection in the fall to an unprecedented third term, however, cracks are fast emerging. Evergrande, the world’s most indebted company and China’s largest real estate developer, defaulted on its debt last year, while rivals Kaisa Group, Country Garden, Sunac China, and Shimao Group are also in various stages of distress.

Moreover, many Chinese investors are staging a mortgage boycott, refusing to pay installments on a property that may never be built.

According to Bloomberg, the sector has seen at least $90 billion wiped off its stocks and bonds since the year began as a result of the crisis.

Making matters worse, President Xi has not deviated from his zero-COVID policy, imposing draconian lockdowns that keep the economy from returning to its prior boom. Most recently the tropical tourist hotspot of Sanya, a kind of Chinese Hawaii, has been affected by an outbreak, impacting travel to the popular resort.

In a move to alleviate the situation, the country’s central bank trimmed two key interest rates in a surprise move on Monday. Whether that helps stimulate demand going forward is another question.

On Sunday, Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post, which belongs to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, warned 50 million vacant apartments could flood the market, calling it a “ticking time bomb.”

DEJA VU

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-09-26-mn-50145-story.html

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HAWAII RESUMES COURSE AFTER SPECULATIVE STORM 

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Jul 19, 2022 ... Visitors from Japan, traditionally the largest group of foreign homebuyers in Hawaiʻi, have seen their buying power in the Islands decline ...

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https://hbr.org/1990/05/power-from-the-ground-up-japans-land-bubble

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https://uhero.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/JapaneseInvest.pdf

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