Author: Roland Rice

Tel Aviv/Gaza. 19 January -50. After haggling with the terror organization HAMAS over 30 plus hostages are to be freed in a three-phase exchange. Donald Trump warned HAMAS make a deal or face the consequences. Delegation from Egypt, Qatar, Israel, the United States, and Europe worked hard on the deal. Trials and tribulations aside, even in the last moments of the settlement the anxiety ran high. Then the days of Freedom arrived. After 471 days in captivity Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonen were set free. In a caldron of screaming HAMAS fanatics under heavy guard by some green…

The recent House of Lords debate on air defence capabilities provided insights into the United Kingdom’s plans for strengthening its front-line defences and managing technological dependencies. Lord Craig of Radley asked about tangible additions to the UK’s air defence capabilities in the next 12 months, “My Lords, I too have warned before of the potential threat to the United Kingdom mainland from the air and of a second Battle of Britain. What new air defence capabilities will be added to the front line in the next 12 months?” In response, Lord Coaker outlined ongoing upgrades: “We are upgrading the radar on the…

It was bitter cold, but I don’t remember freezing or being cold. Hemingway wrote that the air was so cold when you took a breath it was like drinking water. We travelled by train, then we walked through the cold streets, no bus was running, we had to hustle to catch the last ride up the mountain, then it was up to the mountain, bundled up in two thick woolen blankets with the snow showering us. It was warm looking out of the peep hole I created, flying up the mountains sitting on the last ride of the day. The…

2024 ALCS winners the New York Yankees haven’t been to a World Series since 2009, but that all changes this week when they play the National League champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. After an incredible postseason, the two teams, who last played against one another in a World Series in 1981 (the Dodgers won), will play their first two games in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. Every game of the Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series will air on Fox; you can keep up to date with the latest news about the 2024 MLB World Series here and find out everything you need to know…

The Ukrainian project “I Want to Live” on Oct. 23 called on North Korean soldiers to surrender to Ukrainian forces in a new Korean-language video. Launched in September 2022 by Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, the 24-hour “I Want to Live” hotline helps Russian soldiers willingly surrender themselves or their units to the Ukrainian army. The Russian military is promised that after surrender, they will be held in compliance with the Geneva Conventions. “You must not die senselessly in a foreign land. You must not repeat the fate of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who will never return home!” the…

Russian officials allege that Ukraine is gearing up for a chemical weapons attack, with backing from the US-led NATO military alliance. Meanwhile, the UK has imposed sanctions on Russian military units for their involvement in chemical warfare in Ukraine. This development has raised international concerns about the possibility of chemical terrorism in the region. Russian officials claim that Ukraine is preparing for a chemical weapons attack with active support from NATO. The Russian Embassy in Washington has called on the United States to cease backing what they term Kyiv’s “provocations” and to evaluate the risks of potential Ukrainian “chemical terrorism.”…

Members of the Muslim community in the US have declined the White House’s iftar dinner invitation this week, protesting the Biden administration’s continued support for Israel amid humanitarian concerns in Palestine, according to multiple media reports. “Many of the invitees, distressed over President (Joe) Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza, said they would not attend an iftar meal with the president on Tuesday evening while so many Palestinians were under siege,” The New York Times newspaper reported on Wednesday. The White House held a pared-down meal just for staffers. “How can we talk to you about famine and starvation…

LONDON/SYDNEY :World stocks slipped on Monday, while the dollar steadied ahead of a week including a Bank of Japan policy announcement and a key reading on U.S. inflation. Iranian-backed Houthi militants have stepped up attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, which on Monday pushed up shares in big shipping companies, particularly in Europe, on the view that they may push up their rates in response, while crude oil eased modestly. MSCI’s broadest index of world shares dipped 0.1 per cent. European shares opened on a slide led by a decline in real estate stocks but then remained flat after…

Evidence continues to mount that Covid isn’t the only viral illness that can lead to persistent and sometimes debilitating symptoms.  Research published Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases finds that the flu virus may also have long-lasting effects on health. With the arrival of the pandemic and the resulting rash of long Covid cases, doctors had to rethink their ideas about viral infections, said senior study author Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research and development at the VA St. Louis Health Care System and a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “Our conception of these illnesses as acute events that you deal…

London (15/11 – 67) The streets in Colombo, Sri Lanka, erupted into celebration on July 13, 2022 after weeks of peaceful protests forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country. Rajapaksa, long implicated in war crimes when he was defense secretary, had presided over an economic catastrophe amid allegations of widespread corruption and impunity. But a year later, despite some superficial changes, there is no sustained improvement in the country’s economic situation that impinges many people’s human rights. The acute shortage of fuel that was the most visible feature of the economic crisis has eased. But more than six million people – nearly 30…