TV News LIES

The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000lb bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago.

The $2.8bn package includes 40,000 bombs, made up of 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final.

Congress has been informally notified about the pending deal, most of which is to be paid for with foreign military financing – in which US taxpayer dollars are given to Israel to turn around and buy the weapons from the United States.

The proposed sale is just the latest in a series of Trump administration steps to improve Israeli’s military capacity. The war on Gaza has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and has decimated the territory. The US had brokered a fragile ceasefire, but it has been violated several times.

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As right-wing governments across Latin America embrace increasingly militarised and technology-driven approaches to organised crime, Israel is positioning its industry as a source of expertise, surveillance capabilities and national security solutions.

The growing cooperation is opening new markets for an industry closely connected to Israel’s military and intelligence establishment, where technologies have been developed and tested through the occupation of Palestine before being marketed abroad.

Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has identified Israel’s artificial intelligence and cybersecurity expertise as a potential weapon in his promised cracrekdown on organised crime.

“A collaboration with Israel would allow these resources to be applied directly to combating criminal structures within the national territory,” the hardline right-wing leader said.

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The National Weather Service has begun the work of renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America in its broad array of products and services, including maps, websites and forecasts, the agency announced Sept. 14.

Among the weather service products that use the name "Lake Ontario" are open waters forecasts, forecasts for the Niagara River and the surrounding region in New York.

Lake Ontario is part of the formal international boundary between Canada and the United States. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 27 directing U.S. agencies to change the name of Lake Ontario during a round of trade negotiations with Canada.

As recently as Sept. 13, the name "Lake Ontario" was still being used in the forecast discussion of the weather service office in Buffalo. It noted that a few showers were possible "southeast of Lake Ontario during the predawn hours of Monday morning."

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Yemen's Houthi fighters' rapid advance along the Red Sea coast has put them in a prime position to control shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb choke point, while bolstering Iran’s leverage against the US, experts tell Middle East Eye.

“The Houthis have pulled off a military victory that puts them one step closer to be in full control of the Bab el-Mandeb,” Corey Ranslem, CEO of maritime security group Dryad Global, told MEE.

“I think it will actually be easier for the Houthis to exert control in Bab el-Mandeb than it is for Iran in the Strait of Hormuz because the US doesn’t have tangible military assets in the area,” he added.

After days of heavy fighting along a narrow plain known as the Tihama, on Thursday the Houthis routed Yemeni forces loyal to Saudi Arabia and seized the historic and strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha.

Arab media reported that the Houthis made further gains throughout the day. They deployed troops on the Hanish Islands, which sit in the middle of the Red Sea across from Eritrea. Meanwhile, Houthi forces continued to advance south to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the island of Perim.

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The UK's new sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements include those in the occupied Golan Heights as well as in occupied Palestinian territory, Middle East Eye understands.

On Tuesday, the British government declared the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and announced comprehensive sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements.

However, the announced measures did not clarify whether Israeli settlements in the occupied Golan Heights in Syria would be affected by the sanctions, leading campaigners to call for the ban to be extended.

Government sources confirmed to MEE on Thursday night that Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights and in East Jerusalem will be covered by the UK's new measures, as well as those in the occupied West Bank.

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Shortly before taking office, Andy Burnham, the new prime minister, apologised for our party’s initial response to Israel's war on Gaza, saying we got it wrong. 

He was right to apologise, but in the face of overwhelming evidence of Israel’s genocide and war crimes, and the UK’s long complicity, it is far from enough.

Today, the foreign secretary has announced a sanctions regime banning trade with Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, a step that I and more than 140 Labour MPs have called for.

This is welcome and long overdue, not just because it puts pressure on the Israeli government, nor simply because it is what is required of us under international law, but also because it is only fair given the UK’s role in creating a situation where Palestinians are systematically denied their fundamental rights and subjected to the most violent repression by Israel.

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