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The rise in death and violence is “taking place against a backdrop of increasing blatant disregard of international law designed to protect women and children during war,” according to UN Women, the lead agency on the report.
The UN recorded at least 33,443 civilian deaths in armed conflicts in 2023, representing a 72 per cent increase compared with 2022, and the proportion of women and children killed doubled and tripled, respectively.
The majority of recorded deaths, 70 per cent, occurred in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel - the deadliest conflict for civilians in 2023.
Women in war zones are also increasingly suffering from restricted access to healthcare, the report said.
For example, every day, 500 women and girls in conflict-affected countries die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. By the end of 2023, 180 women were giving birth every day in war-torn Gaza—most without necessities or medical care.
“This is happening in the context of a larger war on women. The deliberate targeting of women’s rights is not unique to conflict-affected countries but is even more lethal in those settings.”
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UN News
Percentage of women killed in war doubled in 2023: UN report
The proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled last year compared to 2022, accounting for 40 per cent of all deaths in war, while UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence increased by 50 per cent.
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Thomas Massie on X:
If Israel insists on destroying civilian targets in Lebanon, let them buy and build their own weapons. American taxpayers should not be funding this.
📎 RepThomasMassie
If Israel insists on destroying civilian targets in Lebanon, let them buy and build their own weapons. American taxpayers should not be funding this.
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The US and Western allies are moving forward with a $50 billion loan package to Ukraine backed by the profits of frozen Russian assets, which includes a US contribution of $20 billion, the White House announced Wednesday.
“As part of the G7 package, the United States is announcing today that we will provide $20 billion in loans to Ukraine that will be paid back by the interest earned from immobilized Russian sovereign assets,” President Joe Biden said in a statement formally announcing the package. “In other words, Ukraine can receive the assistance it needs now, without burdening taxpayers.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/23/politics/us-g7-ukraine-loan-package/index.html
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CNN
US and G7 allies moving forward with $50 billion loan package to Ukraine, including $20 billion from the US backed by frozen Russian…
The US and Western allies are moving forward with a $50 billion loan package to Ukraine backed by the profits of frozen Russian assets, which includes a US contribution of $20 billion, the White House announced Wednesday.
Forwarded from The General
BREAKING: Maricopa County, Arizona is now stating it could take 10 to 13 days to complete the vote count for the election.
@GeneralMCNews
@GeneralMCNews
Forwarded from Thermopylae
🇬🇧 - British journalist Connor Tomlinson reveals far-left Antifa activists were supplied with fake passports when carrying out research on right-wingers before doxing them, perhaps by the security services.
Follow: @ThermopylaeNews
Follow: @ThermopylaeNews
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The three astronauts of Shenzhou 18 are taking everyone on a tour of the Tiangong space station!
📎 CNSAWatcher
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/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global
Thomas Massie on X: If Israel insists on destroying civilian targets in Lebanon, let them buy and build their own weapons. American taxpayers should not be funding this. 📎 RepThomasMassie
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👼🇺🇸 Economist, mother of eight has a countercultural message amid declining American birth rates
An American economist with a large family argues that, despite the declining birthrate, the decision to have kids is an individual choice in which the government should play no part.
Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, an economist at the Catholic University of America, has eight children of her own, which prompted her to look at why just 5% of American women opt to have five or more children amid a historic "birth dearth" as she calls it in her book, "Hannah’s Children," noscriptd after the Biblical character Hannah. As part of her research, Pakaluk interviewed 55 women with college degrees and five or more children in ten different American regions, asking them about themselves, their children, their careers and why they chose to have a larger than average family in a country with a declining birth rate.
Pakaluk, who doesn't consider herself a natalist, has opinions about childbearing that run contrary to many conservative and pronatalist views. She doesn't, for example, support subsidies, child tax credits or any governmental policy that encourages childbearing for women, she told Fox News Digital.
Instead, Pakaluk believes women ultimately won't be swayed to have children because of financial incentives and argues that the decision by Americans not to have kids has more to do with American culture rather than the economy. Notably, Pakaluk's subjects were primarily religious, consisting of Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons and Jews.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/economist-mother-eight-has-countercultural-message-amid-declining-american-birth-rates
An American economist with a large family argues that, despite the declining birthrate, the decision to have kids is an individual choice in which the government should play no part.
Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, an economist at the Catholic University of America, has eight children of her own, which prompted her to look at why just 5% of American women opt to have five or more children amid a historic "birth dearth" as she calls it in her book, "Hannah’s Children," noscriptd after the Biblical character Hannah. As part of her research, Pakaluk interviewed 55 women with college degrees and five or more children in ten different American regions, asking them about themselves, their children, their careers and why they chose to have a larger than average family in a country with a declining birth rate.
Pakaluk, who doesn't consider herself a natalist, has opinions about childbearing that run contrary to many conservative and pronatalist views. She doesn't, for example, support subsidies, child tax credits or any governmental policy that encourages childbearing for women, she told Fox News Digital.
Instead, Pakaluk believes women ultimately won't be swayed to have children because of financial incentives and argues that the decision by Americans not to have kids has more to do with American culture rather than the economy. Notably, Pakaluk's subjects were primarily religious, consisting of Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons and Jews.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/economist-mother-eight-has-countercultural-message-amid-declining-american-birth-rates
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Fox News
Economist, mother of eight has a countercultural message amid declining American birth rates
A leading economist argues women ultimately won't be encouraged to have children because of financial incentives and instead believes in cultural changes to society.
Ukraine's population has declined by 10 million, or around a quarter, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion as a result of refugees leaving, collapsing fertility and war deaths, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a Geneva news conference, Florence Bauer, Eastern Europe head at the U.N. Population Fund, said the invasion in February 2022 had turned an already difficult demographic situation into something more severe.
"The birth rate plummeted and is currently at around one child per woman, which is one of the lowest in the world," she said. It takes a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman to maintain a stable population.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-population-has-fallen-by-10-million-since-russias-invasion-un-says-2024-10-22/
https://archive.ph/rbdWU
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Reuters
Ukraine's population has fallen by 10 million since Russia's invasion, UN says
Ukraine's population has declined by around a quarter as a result of refugees leaving, collapsing fertility and war deaths.
🏝Water for a Desert Lake in Algeria
Roughly 11,000 to 5,000 years ago, during the African Humid Period, the Sahara Desert was likely far wetter and greener. Geologic and archaeological evidence indicates that vegetation, wetlands, and perhaps even large lakes covered areas that are now oceans of sand.
In September 2024, hints of this more watery past emerged after an extratropical cyclone dropped a deluge of rainfall on parts of northern Africa. Runoff from the storm has partially filled several ephemeral desert lakes in normally dry areas.
One of the challenges for researchers who study this topic is that models that simulate prior climate conditions struggle to reproduce the rainfall required to fill as many Saharan lakes as geologists believe were present during the African Humid Period. This has led some researchers to suggest that either the Sahara wasn’t actually as rainy and verdant as paleoclimate experts think or that the models are missing something, explained Armon.
“We’re proposing a third option: that extreme rain events, like the one in September in the northwestern Sahara, might have been more frequent in the past,” said Armon. “Given how long it takes lakes to dry up, these events could have been common enough to keep lakes partially filled over long periods—even years or decades—without frequent rainfall.”
https://www.bluemarble.nasa.gov/images/153475/water-for-a-desert-lake-in-algeria
Roughly 11,000 to 5,000 years ago, during the African Humid Period, the Sahara Desert was likely far wetter and greener. Geologic and archaeological evidence indicates that vegetation, wetlands, and perhaps even large lakes covered areas that are now oceans of sand.
In September 2024, hints of this more watery past emerged after an extratropical cyclone dropped a deluge of rainfall on parts of northern Africa. Runoff from the storm has partially filled several ephemeral desert lakes in normally dry areas.
One of the challenges for researchers who study this topic is that models that simulate prior climate conditions struggle to reproduce the rainfall required to fill as many Saharan lakes as geologists believe were present during the African Humid Period. This has led some researchers to suggest that either the Sahara wasn’t actually as rainy and verdant as paleoclimate experts think or that the models are missing something, explained Armon.
“We’re proposing a third option: that extreme rain events, like the one in September in the northwestern Sahara, might have been more frequent in the past,” said Armon. “Given how long it takes lakes to dry up, these events could have been common enough to keep lakes partially filled over long periods—even years or decades—without frequent rainfall.”
https://www.bluemarble.nasa.gov/images/153475/water-for-a-desert-lake-in-algeria
www.bluemarble.nasa.gov
Water for a Desert Lake in Algeria
Scientists are studying the rare filling of Sebkha el Melah for clues about past—and possibly future—greening of the Sahara Desert.
🛞⛏️ The wheel might have been invented in Europe and not the Middle East as is commonly believed according to a new study.
Even though the invention of the wheel around 6,000 years ago revolutionized everything from transportation to pottery making, its exact origins are still a mystery to archaeologists.
But a new study using techniques from structural mechanics suggests that Eastern European copper miners may have been the driving force behind three major innovations in wheel technology as early as 3900 B.C.
Archaeological evidence of wheels and wheeled vehicles abounds in the Copper Age (around 5000 to 3000 B.C.) across Europe, Asia and Northern Africa, including battle scenes painted on walls, miniature wheels, children's toys, wagon burials and even early textual references to the technology. Because the wheel was adopted so quickly though, it is unclear exactly where and when it was first invented — or if it was invented independently in different times and places.
There are three main theories for the wheel's origin. One suggests that it first appeared in Mesopotamia around 4000 B.C. and then spread to Europe. Another theory suggests it was developed around the Pontic coast of northern Turkey around 3800 B.C. The third major theory argues that the wheel was invented in the Carpathian Mountains between 4000 and 3500 B.C., and spread in various directions from there.
This third theory, put forward in 2016 by historian Richard Bulliet, a professor emeritus at Columbia University and a co-author of the new study, rests on the idea that, around 4000 B.C., much-sought-after copper ore had become harder to find, requiring miners to travel deep into mines and lug containers of ore back out. Late Copper Age wagon models that have been found in the Carpathian region are rectangular with trapezoidal sides — similar to mining cars today, Bulliet wrote in his book.
In their study, the researchers suggested that three innovations were needed for the wheel to evolve. Given the need to move a heavy basket or box, people likely used rollers placed along a path, moving the back rollers to the front as needed.
The oldest wheel was discovered in the marshes of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and was dated to 5.200 B.C.
The first innovation — grooved rollers — would have allowed the box to rest on the rollers and move back and forth, without people having to walk around it to replace the rollers. This may have allowed people to push a wider cart into the mine. The second innovation was a wheelset, or wheels fixed to an axle, which could have given the cart a higher clearance to pass over rocks and other debris in a mineshaft. And the third innovation, where the wheels move independently of the axle, likely arose around 500 years after the wheelset and added maneuverability to the design, according to the paper.
After generating an optimized wheelset design, the team discovered, based on their computational analysis, that the evolution of the wheel and axle from simple rollers was a plausible descent path that reflected an increasingly energy-efficient design. But the Carpathian mines may have influenced the design as well.
"The environment where the original wheel developers were operating contained certain unique features that encouraged a shift toward roller-based transport," James told Live Science in an email. "Essentially, these environmental features — e.g., a narrow, enclosed path — pushed the wheel's developers toward that particular design."
🔗 https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/1st-wheel-was-invented-6-000-years-ago-in-the-carpathian-mountains-modeling-study-suggests
Even though the invention of the wheel around 6,000 years ago revolutionized everything from transportation to pottery making, its exact origins are still a mystery to archaeologists.
But a new study using techniques from structural mechanics suggests that Eastern European copper miners may have been the driving force behind three major innovations in wheel technology as early as 3900 B.C.
Archaeological evidence of wheels and wheeled vehicles abounds in the Copper Age (around 5000 to 3000 B.C.) across Europe, Asia and Northern Africa, including battle scenes painted on walls, miniature wheels, children's toys, wagon burials and even early textual references to the technology. Because the wheel was adopted so quickly though, it is unclear exactly where and when it was first invented — or if it was invented independently in different times and places.
There are three main theories for the wheel's origin. One suggests that it first appeared in Mesopotamia around 4000 B.C. and then spread to Europe. Another theory suggests it was developed around the Pontic coast of northern Turkey around 3800 B.C. The third major theory argues that the wheel was invented in the Carpathian Mountains between 4000 and 3500 B.C., and spread in various directions from there.
This third theory, put forward in 2016 by historian Richard Bulliet, a professor emeritus at Columbia University and a co-author of the new study, rests on the idea that, around 4000 B.C., much-sought-after copper ore had become harder to find, requiring miners to travel deep into mines and lug containers of ore back out. Late Copper Age wagon models that have been found in the Carpathian region are rectangular with trapezoidal sides — similar to mining cars today, Bulliet wrote in his book.
In their study, the researchers suggested that three innovations were needed for the wheel to evolve. Given the need to move a heavy basket or box, people likely used rollers placed along a path, moving the back rollers to the front as needed.
The oldest wheel was discovered in the marshes of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and was dated to 5.200 B.C.
The first innovation — grooved rollers — would have allowed the box to rest on the rollers and move back and forth, without people having to walk around it to replace the rollers. This may have allowed people to push a wider cart into the mine. The second innovation was a wheelset, or wheels fixed to an axle, which could have given the cart a higher clearance to pass over rocks and other debris in a mineshaft. And the third innovation, where the wheels move independently of the axle, likely arose around 500 years after the wheelset and added maneuverability to the design, according to the paper.
After generating an optimized wheelset design, the team discovered, based on their computational analysis, that the evolution of the wheel and axle from simple rollers was a plausible descent path that reflected an increasingly energy-efficient design. But the Carpathian mines may have influenced the design as well.
"The environment where the original wheel developers were operating contained certain unique features that encouraged a shift toward roller-based transport," James told Live Science in an email. "Essentially, these environmental features — e.g., a narrow, enclosed path — pushed the wheel's developers toward that particular design."
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livescience.com
1st wheel was invented 6,000 years ago in the Carpathian Mountains, modeling study suggests
It's possible that the wheel was invented by copper miners in the Carpathian Mountains up to 6,000 years ago, according to a modeling study that uses techniques from structural mechanics.
Forwarded from Demographics Now and Then
🇬🇹👶 Guatemala potentially going significantly below replacement in 2024 is an incredible piece of news. Guatemala is poor, heavily indigenous (important as the Mayan community has traditionally been pro children), & has high emigration. Demographic disaster if emigration not curbed.
"In our survey of voters aged 18-29, we find that young voters support imposing an arms embargo on Israel by a +26-point margin."
https://www.dataforprogress.org/memos/10/21/2024-young-voters-report-young-voters-are-enthusiastic-to-vote-strongly-prefer-harris-to-trump
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Santiago’s force are part of a spattering of what are referred to in Mexico as “autodefensas” or “self-defense squads,” who raise guns to fight the cartels - because the government has failed to protect them.
The autodefensas surged in Michoacán in 2013-14 to combat the predatory Knights Templar mob, and were headed by charismatic leaders such as doctor José Mireles and farmer Hipólito Mora, who became national figures. Yet while many squads disbanded and Mireles and Mora are both dead, other groups have kept fighting and new squads have formed.
https://www.crashoutmedia.com/p/inside-mexicos-new-self-defense-squads
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Crashoutmedia
Inside Mexico’s New “Self-Defense Squads"
There's a blur between community police and cartel troops; a Nahua vigilante soldier tells his story
✒️🇺🇸 🗡 John Konrad on X:
"In elite schools, they taught us the pen is mightier than the sword, and that intellect and policy shape the world.
But they missed a critical point: the pen is only mighty when it’s backed by overwhelming American strength and stability. And that foundation has crumbled.
Publications like the New York Times and The Economist still think they can sway opinion, that a well-timed hit piece will change the course of history. But they’re living in the past. The pen can’t move mountains when the foundations are shaking.
For decades, the elites believed their words would always be enough - sadly they still do - but most Americans don’t even read these publications, and those who do can’t stop the tidal shifts in global power.
The truth? The trust we once placed in our elites is fading, because that trust isn’t safe anymore. The world has changed, it is more dangerous, and the pen alone won’t save it.
Americans trust our elite until we have clear evidence that trust is no longer safe.
Today we are no longer safe.
And a dozen Economist articles aren’t going to change that.
Rebuilding the foundation of our nation is the only thing that can…. And only one candidate offers to fix that foundation of strength and stability."
https://fxtwitter.com/johnkonrad/status/1849275662118396294
"In elite schools, they taught us the pen is mightier than the sword, and that intellect and policy shape the world.
But they missed a critical point: the pen is only mighty when it’s backed by overwhelming American strength and stability. And that foundation has crumbled.
Publications like the New York Times and The Economist still think they can sway opinion, that a well-timed hit piece will change the course of history. But they’re living in the past. The pen can’t move mountains when the foundations are shaking.
For decades, the elites believed their words would always be enough - sadly they still do - but most Americans don’t even read these publications, and those who do can’t stop the tidal shifts in global power.
The truth? The trust we once placed in our elites is fading, because that trust isn’t safe anymore. The world has changed, it is more dangerous, and the pen alone won’t save it.
Americans trust our elite until we have clear evidence that trust is no longer safe.
Today we are no longer safe.
And a dozen Economist articles aren’t going to change that.
Rebuilding the foundation of our nation is the only thing that can…. And only one candidate offers to fix that foundation of strength and stability."
https://fxtwitter.com/johnkonrad/status/1849275662118396294
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🧵 Thread • FxTwitter / FixupX
John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad)
I grew up straddling two worlds—working-class Bronx grit and elite suburban privilege. In elite schools, they taught us the pen is mightier than the sword, and that intellect and policy shape the world.
But they missed a critical point: the pen is only mighty…
But they missed a critical point: the pen is only mighty…
🚦🇮🇷 🇮🇱 Israel delays Iran retaliation after US intelligence leak
The leak revealed Israel’s well-advanced plans to respond to a salvo of nearly 200 Iranian ballistic missiles fired against it earlier this month, which was a retaliation by Tehran for Israel’s attacks on its Middle Eastern proxy groups.
https://www.thetimes.com/world/israel-hamas-war/article/israel-iran-us-intelligence-leak-hx5mcbmlr
https://archive.is/VyMvd
The leak revealed Israel’s well-advanced plans to respond to a salvo of nearly 200 Iranian ballistic missiles fired against it earlier this month, which was a retaliation by Tehran for Israel’s attacks on its Middle Eastern proxy groups.
https://www.thetimes.com/world/israel-hamas-war/article/israel-iran-us-intelligence-leak-hx5mcbmlr
https://archive.is/VyMvd
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The Times
Israel delays Iran retaliation after US intelligence leak
Leak of sensitive document, thought to be an assessment of IDF strike plans, forces a rethink in the response to Tehran’s missile attack
The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, voted quickly to endorse the “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed with North Korean leader King Jong Un on a visit to Pyongyang in June. The upper house is expected to follow suit soon.
The pact obliges Russia and North Korea to immediately provide military assistance using “all means” if either is attacked. It marked the strongest link between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War.
The U.S. said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia and are training at several locations, calling the move very serious and warning that those forces will be “fair game” if they go into combat in Ukraine.
Asked in June whether North Korean troops could fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine under the pact, Putin said there was no need for that but he also announced for the first time that Russia could provide weapons to Pyongyang.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/24/russia-north-korea-troops-ukraine-treaty-ratification/2155cb10-91e9-11ef-b5b1-75167840d9f3_story.html
https://archive.ph/4hneS
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If North Korean troops invade Ukraine, America must "seriously consider" engaging in military action against them, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence chair Rep. Mike Turner said in a statement issued Wednesday.
"If North Korean troops were to invade Ukraine's sovereign territory, the United States needs to seriously consider taking direct military action against the North Korean troops," the Ohio Republican asserted.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-must-weigh-military-action-against-north-korean-forces-invading-ukraine-house-intel-chair-turner
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Fox News
US must weigh 'military action against' North Korean forces if invading Ukraine: House intel chair Turner
House intelligence committee chair Rep. Mike Turner said in a statement that the U.S. must think about targeting North Korean troops if they invade Ukraine.
Forwarded from Africa Intel
🇸🇴🇮🇱 Israel-Somaliland Military Deal to Spark Diplomatic Tensions with Somalia
Israel’s plans to establish a military base in Somaliland is likely to heighten diplomatic tensions between Somalia and the Middle Eastern state. According to the Qatari state-funded Middle East Monitor, Israel is eyeing a northern Somalia military base to monitor activities in Yemen and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
In exchange, Israel is expected to recognise Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is currently unrecognised by the majority of the international community, which views it as part of Somalia.
The prospect of official recognition has already sparked unease in Mogadishu, as it could bolster Somaliland’s independence claims, further straining relations between Tel Aviv and Somalia.
The potential for broader regional implications looms large, with both Israel and Ethiopia’s moves in Somaliland threatening to upset the fragile balance in the Horn of Africa.
#Somaliland #Israel
@africaintel
Israel’s plans to establish a military base in Somaliland is likely to heighten diplomatic tensions between Somalia and the Middle Eastern state. According to the Qatari state-funded Middle East Monitor, Israel is eyeing a northern Somalia military base to monitor activities in Yemen and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
In exchange, Israel is expected to recognise Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is currently unrecognised by the majority of the international community, which views it as part of Somalia.
The prospect of official recognition has already sparked unease in Mogadishu, as it could bolster Somaliland’s independence claims, further straining relations between Tel Aviv and Somalia.
The potential for broader regional implications looms large, with both Israel and Ethiopia’s moves in Somaliland threatening to upset the fragile balance in the Horn of Africa.
#Somaliland #Israel
@africaintel