Gaza’s Health Ministry reported Friday that hunger and malnutrition have killed 466 people since 2024, as famine grips the enclave and pushes more than 1.4 million residents toward a critical food crisis.

---

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza confirmed Friday that malnutrition and hunger rates have reached catastrophic levels across the territory.

The toll stands at 466 starvation deaths since 2024, a figure the ministry released on World Food Day, observed October 16.

RELATED: Gaza Humanitarian Crisis: UN Warns of Explosive Force Equal to 6 Nuclear Bombs

The health authority issued a grim report exposing the consequences of the prolonged Israeli siege. Official projections show that more than 1.4 million people, equivalent to 67% of the population, will face a critical or worse food crisis by the end of 2026. Famine was formally declared in Gaza governorate in August 2025.

“Malnutrition and famine rates in the Gaza Strip have reached catastrophic levels, seriously affecting children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups,” the Ministry said in its statement.

Statement by the Gaza Ministry of Health on World Food Day:

▪️ "Malnutrition and starvation rates in the Gaza Strip have reached catastrophic levels, ravaging children, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups."

▪️ "A total of 466 deaths due to malnutrition and starvation have…

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) October 16, 2026

Children carry a heavy share of the toll. Since 2024, 157 children have died from malnutrition, roughly one third of all starvation deaths. Between 2024 and August 2026, health workers documented 158,001 cases of acute malnutrition in children under five, including 28,716 severe cases that directly threaten life.

The mortality rate among children under five more than doubled, climbing from 13.6 to 33.4 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2022 and 2025. Stunting now affects 12.2% of the child population. Officials estimate that another 74,200 children will require specialized treatment through 2027.

Maternal health has deteriorated sharply as well. Anemia prevalence rose to 61% in 2026, compared with 41% before the conflict. Nearly 4,000 miscarriages were recorded in the first half of the year, more than triple the previous six months. One in every three pregnancies is now classified as high risk.

🇵🇸 466 Palestinians, including 157 children, have died from malnutrition and starvation in Gaza since 2024, Health Ministry says

⚠️ More than 1.4 million people are expected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse through the end of 2026

📌 Authorities accuse Israel of… pic.twitter.com/xGVDRsQcWy

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) October 16, 2026

Elderly Hardest Hit

Elderly adults account for the largest share of deaths linked to food shortages. The Gazan Ministry registered 189 fatalities among the elderly, or 40.5% of the national total.

The vulnerability among seniors is stark: 11% go entire days without eating anything at all, meanwhile 48% deliberately reduce their own portions to feed their families. 68% of them have interrupted or cut back on medication doses because of widespread shortages.

Three years of war have collapsed the food system. The Ministry’s warning lands as winter approaches and as aid deliveries remain insufficient to meet the scale of need across the territory.

The figures mark the deepest point yet in a hunger emergency that has built steadily since the conflict began. A formal famine declaration, once a rare event, now defines daily reality for hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the enclave.

The projected rise in food insecurity through late 2026, combined with 74,200 children awaiting specialized care, points to a crisis that will persist even if aid access improves.

Facing this emergency, the Health Ministry recalled that the right to food is fundamental. It urged the United Nations and the international community to establish urgent mechanisms that guarantee the safe, sustainable and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid, therapeutic supplements and medicines into the enclave.

MEMO | October 16, 2026

A prominent Israeli rabbi on Friday issued a religious ruling permitting Israeli occupiers to take olives from Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, claiming that harvesting the crop “demonstrates Jewish ownership of the land,” Anadolu reports.

The ruling was issued by Rabbi Dov Lior, one of the most prominent religious authorities among Israeli occupiers in the West Bank, and was published by Israeli Channel 13.

It comes amid escalating occupier violence against Palestinians and their property, particularly farmers during the olive harvest season.

Lior claimed that Palestinians do not own their land, arguing that they had not purchased it from the “people of Israel” or from any Jewish person and describing the land as “stolen property.”

Citing Jewish religious law, he claimed that ownership of land cannot be transferred through theft and that Palestinian land therefore remains the property of the “people of Israel.”

He also argued that Palestinians planting olive trees on their land does not give them ownership rights over either the land or its produce.

Lior claimed Palestinians had already received sufficient compensation for planting the trees by consuming their fruit over previous years, and said both the land and harvest should return to what he called their “rightful owners.”

His ruling was not limited to land near illegal settlements, however, and also permitted occupiers to take olive crops from Palestinian areas farther away.

The ruling comes as attacks on Palestinian farmers during the West Bank olive harvest season have intensified, including assaults, preventing farmers from reaching their land, damaging trees and stealing crops.

Such attacks recur during the olive harvest, which peaks in October each year, while this month has seen an increase in attacks by occupiers against Palestinians and their property.

Palestinian, Israeli and international rights organizations have accused Israeli authorities of failing to stop occupier violence or hold perpetrators accountable despite attacks targeting Palestinians, their homes, farmland, vehicles and other property.

Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law, while Palestinians maintain their rights to their land and reject attempts to seize it.

Three days of silence ended in London. Volodymyr Zelenskyy used a Financial Times interview to announce that Ukraine would resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, and the message was aimed as much at Washington as was at Moscow.

The ban on refinery strikes is lifted, Zelenskyy declared. “Enough,” he added, in a statement that amounted to an open rejection of the White House moratorium. The timing is notable. Until the trip to London, Kyiv had avoided a direct confrontation with Donald Trump. Only after arriving in the British capital, where political backing for Ukraine remains strongest, did the tone harden. The episode points to a widening split inside the Western bloc. Over the coming month, tension may grow between those pushing for a settlement and those committed to continuing the war.

While politics heats up, the strikes on Ukraine’s rear continue without pause.

Overnight on October 16, Russian drones hit the western regions in a massive attack. In Lutsk, an energy facility was struck, leaving parts of the city without power and halting electric transport. As the blackout spread, residents began stocking water. In Khmelnytskyi, an oil depot was attacked. Kovel reported interruptions to both water and electricity, while in Ternopil a foreign-owned enterprise was hit.

The situation in the capital is worse. According to the Ukrainian outlet Ekonomichna Pravda, three Kyiv thermal power plants – TEC-5, TEC-6, and the Darnytsia plant – have stopped generating electricity. Those facilities provided the bulk of the capital’s power. Media reports say 600,000 people have already left Kyiv, a city that had nearly three million residents before the conflict.

Meanwhile, a technological shift is emerging on the battlefield. Russian forces have begun using Molniya drones fitted with satellite antennas, bearing a logo strikingly similar to that of Bureau 1440. That company develops Rassvet, a Russian low-orbit satellite network widely seen as a counterpart to Elon Musk’s Starlink. Such a network offers jam-resistant control for mid-range strike drones operating 100 to 150 kilometers from the front line. Satellite guidance is also expected to improve the accuracy of long-range Geran drones. If Russia can quickly scale up terminal production, the consequences could be dramatic. Ukraine’s rear could come to resemble the land corridor to Crimea, where roads are effectively blocked by constantly loitering drones.

Kyiv has lifted its own ban on refinery strikes just as its capital loses the ability to keep itself warm and lit. Russia, meanwhile, is building a satellite-guided drone fleet that no foreign company can switch off. Defiance in London is easy to announce. Defiance in a city without power, with roughly one in five residents gone, is far harder to sustain.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DEAR FRIENDS. IF YOU LIKE THIS TYPE OF CONTENT, SUPPORT SOUTHFRONT WORK:

MONERO (XMR): 86yfEHs6pkoDEKCxc6MAnQX8cVHmzhYxMVrNuwKgNmqpWK8dDxjgGnK8PtUNJMACbn6xEGxmRauNTHJhUJpg9Mwz8htBBND

BITCOIN (BTC): bc1qgu58lfszcpqu6fd8l98m378wgzugyg9y93lcym

BITCOIN CASH (BCH): qr28d80s5juzv2793k5jrq59xrl5fxd8qg9h3zlkk2

PAYPAL, WESTERN UNION etc: write to info@southfront.press , southfront@list.ru

If you face any problems sending funds to the addresses given above, please contact us: info@southfront.press and southfront@list.ru. Also be aware that many email services such as Hotmail, Yahoo etc. may block correspondence from info@southfront.press and some others put it in spam.

If you want to support SouthFront but have no opportunity to do it via cryptocurrency, please contact us: info@southfront.press and southfront@list.ru.

SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com

SOUTHFRONT.PRESS

The post “Enough” In London, Darkness In Kyiv — Zelenskyy’s Defiance Meets Reality appeared first on South Front.

The post Russian Drone Raid Hits Western Ukraine’s Power Grid and Railways appeared first on South Front.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the US government is preparing to send troops to Latin America under the pretext of combating drug trafficking in the region.

According to the US publication, 600 troops from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, NY, have already begun deploying to the jungles of Panama to conduct exercises alongside the local military.

In addition, it was reported that members of this detachment will participate in operations in other countries in the future: “The troops will eventually train with local forces in Colombia and Honduras, and could also support US Special Operations troops advising militaries conducting raids against accused drug traffickers, the officials said.”

The peoples of the region, alongside anti-imperialist and progressive forces, have long denounced decades of US military intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean. Various experts and analysts have shown that “war on drugs” projects have never led to the elimination of these illicit businesses. On the contrary, US military involvement has coincided with an increase in violence, drug production, but most importantly: neoliberal reforms. These reforms involve the dismantling and reduction of the state, the privatization of all possible dimensions of social life, and the destruction of social organizations that oppose neoliberalism.

Read more: What else is behind the “fight” against drug trafficking in Latin America?

Historically, this process of material dispossession has been facilitated by an expansion of US military presence, under the pretext of the “war on drugs.”

The report stated: “The deployments and growing headquarters, which have not been previously reported, along with the Pentagon’s recent movement of several MQ-9 Reaper drones from Africa to Colombia and Ecuador, mark the latest widening of the Defense Department’s fight against drug traffickers in the region.”

Shield of the Americas

For several months now, US forces have been participating in intelligence activities and supporting military operations in Ecuador, whose government has entered into agreements with the US to allegedly fight organized crime. However, it was later revealed that these operations didn’t target drug traffickers at all. In at least one instance, The New York Times reported that the US and Ecuador bombed a dairy farm.

This collaboration is part of the new military and geopolitical strategy led by the Trump administration, embodied in the agreement known as “Shield of the Americas.” In recent meetings, several governments have committed to working with the United States so that their militaries can carry out joint operations in Latin American countries.

Regarding the possible itinerary of the soldiers who are expected to arrive in Panama, The New York Times reported: “The soldiers will move first into Panama, where they will take part in jungle training exercises, officials said. From there they will head to Colombia, where they will participate in what officials have called Southern Vanguard, an exercise scheduled to begin later this month. Other rotations will move into Honduras for training with local partners. Some of the troops could be used to provide additional security for US helicopters in the region, which have been providing support for US Special Operations forces.”

For about a year now, the United States has been conducting airstrikes on small boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean that Washington claims are linked to drug trafficking. Over 200 people have been killed in the strikes and the majority of the victims appear to be fishermen from Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and other island nations. Victims’ families and survivors have vehemently denied any connection to criminal groups.

Washington claims the report is false

For its part, the US Embassy in Panama stated that The New York Times report regarding the deployment of several hundred US soldiers to the Caribbean nation is untrue: “The New York Times article alleging the deployment of 600 US soldiers to Panama is categorically false.”

The US Embassy reported that 120 US military personnel are currently participating in a training course in the Panamanian jungle, but that these troops will return to the United States on October 25 and therefore will not undertake the deployment announced by Colombia and Honduras. It did report that other US military personnel will participate in exercises in Peru.

“This is nothing new. The Jungle Operations Training Center has been operating for over a year as a school officially recognized by the US Army. US and Panamanian instructors jointly provide training in survival techniques and jungle operations,” the US Embassy in Panama said in its statement.

The controversy between The New York Times and US diplomatic officials over this report comes amid an evident increase in the US military presence in the region. In addition to operations in the Caribbean and the Pacific, there was the military incursion into Venezuela on January 3, 2026, which resulted in the capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as well as the deaths of more than 100 people in Venezuela. Furthermore, President Trump himself has suggested that he could attack Cuba and any other country if US security is compromised.

Elon Musk approached US President Donald Trump with a proposal to limit the speed of Starlink satellite communications in Ukraine, disrupting Kyiv’s ability to counter Russian drone attacks, The Telegraph reported on 16 October, citing four sources familiar with the discussions.

The restrictions had immediate consequences for Ukraine’s defenses, forcing some drone missions against Russian positions to be called off and threatening the ability to intercept Russian jet-powered drones as they targeted Ukrainian cities at the time.

According to The Telegraph, Trump agreed with Musk’s suggestion, paving the way for the Pentagon to impose restrictions on Starshield, the military-grade version of SpaceX’s satellite network used by Ukrainian forces.

The report contradicts Musk’s public claim that the US military and ultimately Trump were responsible for deciding any limits on the system. However, Trump denied that either he or Musk was responsible for Ukraine losing access, while an anonymous US official told AFP that the president had not requested the reduction in service.

The reported restrictions come amid tensions between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. The episode has raised concerns about Ukraine’s dependence on privately controlled communications infrastructure and the risk that changes to US support could weaken its battlefield capabilities.

Starshield restrictions hampered Ukraine’s drone defenses

Starshield is the military-grade version of Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet network. It allows Ukrainian drone operators to maintain communications with aircraft moving at high speeds, supporting both defensive interception missions and strikes against Russian targets.

The speed limit imposed on Ukrainian drones using Starshield was around 160 kph, making it difficult for them to intercept Russian jet-powered drones and missiles traveling at roughly twice that speed.

According to The Telegraph, a senior source said Musk had become concerned about potential backlash from European consumers following the restrictions. A high-ranking European official and two Ukrainian sources reportedly corroborated the account that Musk and Trump were both involved in the decision.

The Pentagon has not publicly explained the restrictions. The report’s account also remains disputed: Trump said on 16 October that he did not believe either he or Musk was responsible for Ukraine losing access, while an anonymous US official cited by AFP said the president had not requested the reduction.

Ukraine says Starshield capabilities are being restored

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 16 October that restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite communications system had disrupted several military operations, including efforts to intercept Russian jet-powered Geran drones attacking Ukrainian cities.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine did not use Starlink to support attacks inside Russia, but relied on the system to intercept drones targeting civilians, conduct mid-range strikes against Russian military targets in occupied Ukrainian territory, and deliver food and water to frontline troops using drones.

“When the speed was reduced, we were unable to intercept a certain number of jet-powered ‘shaheds,’ [Gerans - ed.]” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Ukrainian forces had lost the ability to carry out some operations while the restrictions were in place.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s Defense Ministry was in contact with partners and had received signals from the White House that the capabilities would be restored. However, he stressed that speeds had not yet returned to their previous levels, although restoration was underway.

We don’t use Starlink for our responses inside Russia. We use Starlink to intercept jet-powered “shaheds” that attack our civilians and kill families.

Starlink wasn’t turned off – its speed was reduced. And when the speed was reduced, we were unable to intercept a certain number…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 16, 2026

Europe warns against dependence on Musk’s network

The latest episode has renewed European concerns about relying on Musk and SpaceX for critical communications infrastructure. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned Musk on social media that European customers were watching his actions, The Telegraph reported.

The European Union is developing its own satellite communications system, IRIS², intended to provide an alternative to Starlink, according to The Telegraph. The system is planned to become operational by 2030, leaving Ukraine and European governments dependent on existing providers in the meantime.

The report adds to concerns that decisions made in Washington or by private technology providers could directly affect Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian attacks.

Auch wenn ich diese Woche wieder in Moskau war, haben wir es am Donnerstag wieder geschafft, eine Tacheles-Sendung aufzuzeichnen. Sollte YouTube die Sendung löschen, können Sie sie auch hier bei NuoViso anschauen.

Key developments on Oct. 16:

• Drone attack sparks fire at industrial facility in Russia's Surgut district, governor says
• Pope Leo urges Putin to allow humanitarian aid, evacuations from Russian-occupied Oleshky
• Ukrainian military strikes million-dollar Russian radar in Krasnodar Krai, General Staff claim
• Zelensky's ask: 300 Patriot

Four sources familiar with the discussion said that Elon Musk approached U.S. President Donald Trump with the idea of slowing down Ukraine's Starlink service on the battlefield.

Belgium plans to deliver 10 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by the end of 2026, Prime Minister Bart De Wever announced on 16 October, raising the expected number from three amid delays in transferring the aircraft.

The expanded commitment comes as Ukraine faces sustained Russian drone and missile attacks and needs additional combat aircraft to strengthen its air defenses. 

De Wever made the announcement at a press conference in Brussels alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Anadolu Agency reported. He said Belgium’s deliveries had fallen behind schedule because its new US-made F-35 fighter jets arrived later than expected.

Belgium also discussed supplying more ammunition for Ukraine’s F-16s.

F-16 deliveries delayed by F-35 schedule

“We will deliver 10 this year,” De Wever said, explaining that delays in receiving Belgium’s F-35s had held up the transfer of its F-16s. The new aircraft are now beginning to arrive, allowing Belgium to move forward with deliveries to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy confirmed that Kyiv expects additional F-16s from Belgium by the end of the year and thanked Brussels for the agreement.

The announcement marks an increase from Belgium’s previously reported plan to send three F-16s to Ukraine by the end of 2026. The new figure would more than triple the number expected under that earlier commitment.

F-16s to help counter Russian jet-powered drones

De Wever said Ukraine urgently needs operational fighter jets and described the F-16 as one of the few weapons capable of effectively countering Russian jet-powered drones.

The aircraft can also intercept cruise missiles and other aerial targets, while carrying out electronic warfare and combat missions. Ukraine received its first F-16s in 2024 after allies agreed to supply the aircraft and train Ukrainian pilots. 

Belgium discusses ammunition and financial support

Zelenskyy and De Wever also discussed supplying additional ammunition for Ukraine’s F-16s, including 20 mm rounds produced by Belgian defense company FN Herstal.

The leaders also reportedly discussed Ukraine’s financial needs, though neither provided details on potential next steps. Belgium remains at the center of discussions over frozen Russian assets, as Brussels hosts Euroclear, which holds a large share of the immobilized funds.

The pope called for a local ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and the safe evacuation of civilians from the front-line city, where around 2,000 residents remain trapped amid severe shortages of food and medicine.

The latest aerial strikes on civilian targets came as fears mount that a sharp deterioration in relations between Ukraine and the United States this week could leave Ukraine further exposed to Russia's escalating aerial assaults as the bitter winter approaches.

In deutschen Medien hört man fast nichts über den erbitterten Kampf, den sich der ukrainische Machthaber Selensky und der Kiewer Bürgermeister Klitschkos seit vielen Jahren liefern. Manchmal erscheinen in Deutschland zwar Interviews, in denen Klitschko Selensky kritisiert, aber viel mehr weiß das deutsche Publikum nicht über deren Streit. Da der Streit vor dem Hintergrund des […]

The settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives and beat Heidi Levine, a veteran photojournalist. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers did nothing to halt the violence.

💾

💾

 

Bragança quer afirmar-se como referência na produção e valorização dos cereais e vai candidatar-se a Cidade Europeia do Cereal em 2027. O anúncio foi feito esta sexta-feira, Dia Mundial do Pão, com a autarquia a querer dar visibilidade à tradição cerealista de Trás-os-Montes e ao trabalho desenvolvido por agricultores, empresas e investigadores.

“É importante dar visibilidade a tantos trabalhos que são feitos na área dos cereais, de inovação, de recuperação de espécies, e de valorização do trabalho também dos nossos empresários, agricultores e investigadores nesse domínio“, assinala a presidente da Câmara Municipal de Bragança, Isabel Ferreira. A autarca destaca, por isso, a importância dos cereais e do pão para a identidade e a economia da região.

A candidatura será apresentada à Rede de Cidades do Cereal (REDCCER), entidade responsável pela atribuição anual do título, que distingue projetos dedicados à cultura cerealista. A Câmara de Bragança chama a participar na candidatura a Universidade Politécnica de Bragança, através dos centros de investigação CIMO e SusTEC, o MORE CoLAB, produtores agrícolas, padarias, empresas, restaurantes, escolas e associações locais.

No âmbito da candidatura, a autarquia tem programadas diversas atividades, que vão desde a criação de um “Pavilhão Vivo do Cereal”, integrado na Feira de Agricultura, onde os visitantes poderão acompanhar as várias fases do processo do fabrico, desde as sementes e variedades de cereais até à moagem, panificação e utilização na gastronomia.

É importante dar visibilidade a tantos trabalhos que são feitos na área dos cereais, de inovação, de recuperação de espécies, e de valorização do trabalho também dos nossos empresários, agricultores e investigadores nesse domínio.

O município tenciona ainda criar a “Rota do Cereal e do Pão”, que ligará padarias, moinhos, produtores, restaurantes e espaços patrimoniais, além da iniciativa “Doze Meses, Doze Sabores”, que desafiará estabelecimentos de restauração, padarias e pastelarias a apresentar mensalmente criações à base de cereais.

Será ainda lançado o desafio “Bragança Cereal Lab” a estudantes, investigadores e empresas para desenvolverem novos produtos alimentares e soluções relacionadas com os cereais e os seus subprodutos.

Está prevista também a recolha de memórias e testemunhos relacionados com a atividade cerealista, a celebração do “Dia Mundial do Cereal”, a 7 de março, e a realização do Festival “Bragança, Pão e Futuro”, no outono.

Violence against Palestinians and the press has been on going problem in Israel in general for years, but the level of such incidents in the occupied West Bank has reached a fevered pitch in recent months, with Israeli settlers attacking people with virtual impunity. The latest attack saw Washington Post veteran photojournalist Heidi Levine among […]

Many Russians feared the Kremlin would order a new mobilization after last month’s elections: to replenish decimated forces fighting in Ukraine. That hasn’t happened. But creative and coercive recruiting tactics – called “quiet” or “creeping” mobilization by some – continue nationwide.

Cidade do rio Gilão transforma-se na capital mundial da paremiologia

A Associação Internacional de Paremiologia (AIP-IAP) realiza, entre os dias 1 e 8 de novembro de 2026, em Tavira, o 20.º Colóquio Interdisciplinar sobre Provérbios (ICP26) / 7º ICP-Online em formato híbrido.

Organizado em colaboração com a Câmara Municipal de Tavira, o prestigiado certame comemora duas décadas de atividade contínua na vanguarda da investigação cultural e da tradição oral.

A Sessão de Abertura Oficial está agendada para domingo, 1 de novembro, às 15h30, no Salão Nobre da Câmara Municipal de Tavira, tendo as conferências transmissão digital global simultânea para interligar os participantes das mais diversas latitudes.

Esta edição especial de aniversário assume particular relevo ao congregar mais de uma centena de conceituados investigadores oriundos de 33 países, convertendo Tavira num ecossistema internacional de partilha e fazendo jus ao lema oficial: “Todos os caminhos vão dar a Tavira”.

A AIP-IAP, fundada em 2008 e sedeada em Tavira, destaca-se globalmente por ser a única instituição do seu género focada exclusivamente no estudo científico dos provérbios (paremiologia) e promovendo o intercâmbio de conhecimentos e o diálogo intercultural.

Fruto do seu rigor científico, a associação detém o estatuto oficial de ONG acreditada pela UNESCO, atuando diretamente como consultora oficial do Comité do Património Cultural Imaterial (PCI) na área da tradição oral. A AIP-IAP é, também a dinamizadora do Clube UNESCO de Paremiologia-Tavira (CUP-T).

“Chegar à vigésima edição deste Colóquio é a validação de um esforço internacional coletivo pela salvaguarda da sabedoria popular”, afirma Rui Soares, Presidente da AIP-IAP e do CUP-T, acrescentando que “os provérbios cruzam fronteiras e Tavira assume-se orgulhosamente como a ponte que une investigadores dos quatro cantos do mundo”.

O programa esquemático do ICP26 pode ser consultado clicando aqui, pelo que para mais informações os interessados devem contatar pelo telefone: 919 629 699 e ou pelo e-mail: aipiap.tavira@gmail.com .

Congressional Democrats on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees are demanding President Donald Trump explain why Ukrainian forces’ access to SpaceX Starshield services was restricted earlier this week.

In a letter first reported by MS NOW, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Co., ranking member of the Armed Services Committee; Adam Smith, D-Wash., ranking member of the Select Committee on Intelligence; Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn.; and Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., lambasted the Trump administration for refusing to respond to congressional inquiries on who directed changes to Ukraine’s access to Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink services.

The lawmakers were not satisfied with either the possibility that Elon Musk’s company SpaceX independently made the decision — which Musk has denied — or the U.S. government made the call.

“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” Musk wrote Oct. 14 on X. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”

The Democratic lawmakers want the Trump administration to explain exactly who controls the crucial satellite connections Ukraine uses to defend itself.

“If a private company can unilaterally restrict a critical operational service governed by a signed contract with the Department of Defense during an active conflict, it raises serious concerns about public accountability and the outsized influence of private actors over U.S. national security matters,” the lawmakers wrote.

“If, on the other hand, the direction was given by your Administration, it raises serious questions about U.S. defense policy regarding Russia and Ukraine,” they added. “Either way, the American people, our allies, and Ukraine deserve to know why this decision with life-threatening consequences was made.”

A U.S. official, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation, told MS NOW that “no such request was ever made by the President.” The White House ignored repeated questions on whether another administration official or agency directed the change.

“As his popularity plummets at home, he’s shamefully abandoning our allies and once again cozying up to dictators,” Crow said in a statement, referring to Trump. “We need to stand with the people of Ukraine as Russia continues its war of aggression, not fund Putin’s war machine that is killing civilians.”

The Democrats noted the disruption to Ukraine’s military operations and defense capabilities put civilians at risk. The satellite signal disruptions also came amid Trump’s diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and pressure on Ukraine to stop attacking Russian energy sites, despite its adversary failing to abide by the so-called energy ceasefire announced by Trump.

They asked for a response by Oct. 30.

Their letter, which did not include any Republican signatories, follows a bipartisan Senate effort calling for the Department of Defense Inspector General to investigate the Starlink disruptions in Ukraine.

On Thursday, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., led a bipartisan letter seeking an investigation into whether the restricted Starshield service put U.S. diplomatic, military, and security personnel inside Ukraine in danger and who approved the disruptions.

Starshield speeds began to improve on Thursday, according to Ukrainian chargé d’affaires in Washington Denys Sienik.

“We hope all will be resumed to the previous level,” Sienik said in a statement. “Speed ​​is critical for logistics, and for intercepting the jet-powered Shahed drones especially when Russia constantly uses them to attack our cities and commit war crimes and when Foreign Minister Lavrov openly states that Russia opposes a ceasefire.”

A source familiar with the matter told MS NOW the Ukrainian government has yet to receive any response from SpaceX or the Pentagon.

Wednesday “saw one of the most massive Shahed attacks, occurring precisely when our defense system’s speed was being throttled, and the circumstances behind this are deeply concerning,” said the source, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

The post Democrats demand Trump explain Ukraine satellite cutoffs appeared first on MS NOW.

By Jamal Kanj | MEMO | October 15, 2026

Espionage novels portray the spy as a person in a trench coat carrying stolen documents and disappearing into a dark alley. Israeli spy, Jonathan Pollard, certainly fit that picture. A Navy analyst who stole American secrets including the complete ten-volume manual of the National Security Agency exposing how the US gathers its signal intelligence and the names of thousands of foreign individuals who worked for US spy agencies. Intelligence officials believe Israel shared stolen documents with the Soviet Union. According to several intelligence assessments, Pollard was one of the most damaging spies in US history.

Pollard received a life sentence in 1987 and was released in 2015. At first, Israel claimed he was a rogue, apologised and did not admit he had been its agent until 1998. In 2007, Israel named a square in Jerusalem after him, honouring him for his services.

Pollard was neither the first nor the last Israeli asset. Lawrence Franklin, a Pentagon analyst, pleaded guilty in 2005 to passing classified information to an Israeli embassy official and two AIPAC staffers. Ben-Ami Kadish, a former Army engineer, pleaded guilty in 2008 to passing secret documents to an Israeli consulate official, and served no prison time. Stewart Nozette from NASA was charged with attempted espionage following an FBI sting operation. In 1970, Richard Perle was caught in an FBI wiretap discussing classified information with an Israeli embassy official.

In 2001, the same Perle chaired the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board, while two other Israel-firsters, Douglas Feith and Paul Wolfowitz held senior posts in the same building. Franklin had worked in Feith’s policy office when he was indicted for espionage. In 1996, a study group led by Perle, and Feith, prepared a policy paper for incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu titled “A Clean Break.” It urged Israel to abandon the Oslo Accords and the peace process with the Palestinians, and it proposed removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq as part of a broader Israeli strategy to reshape the region. Five years later, as leaders in the Pentagon, they delivered America’s first made-for-Israel war in Iraq.

The above is in no way intended to insinuate or allege that anyone, least of all these Zionist Americans, has dual loyalties. No. It is so profound, there is only one way to describe it: Israel-first loyalty.

Fast forward to 2026. David Milstein, stepson of Israeli propagandist Mark Levin and a senior aide to Ambassador Mike Huckabee, effectively the ambassador’s chief of staff. An unabashed Israel-first American Zionist, Milstein oversees the embassy’s West Bank and Gaza portfolio, placing the fox in charge of the henhouse. According to The New York Times, citing a dozen people who have worked with him, Milstein has repeatedly quashed or rewritten embassy reports to the U.S. State Department to favour Netanyahu’s government.

When the Israeli government accelerated the approval of building more Jewish-only colonies in occupied West Bank, embassy staff drafted an urgent memo warning that the move might cross President Trump’s own red line against annexation. According to The Times, the memo never left Jerusalem.

In response to the surge in attacks by Israeli Jewish mobs on Palestinian homes and farms, embassy staff prepared a report documenting Israel’s failure to rein in violence by Zionist youth. Milstein rewrote it and sent an embassy cable to Washington titled “Government Cracks Down on Escalating West Bank Violence.” When US diplomats pointed out that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution sites were chaotic and deadly, Milstein concluded the operation was a success.

Thirty members of Congress, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen, asked what had become of the investigations into the killings of nine Palestinian Americans by Israeli Jewish mobs and soldiers. Embassy staff compiled a report showing little progress and no charges. According to The Times, the report was set aside in favor of a letter saying Israel was handling the cases properly.

Cable traffic from the section covering Palestinian affairs fell from several a week to a few a month, because American embassy staff feared their work would be blocked, rewritten or impact their diplomatic career. Milstein would question embassy staff if they were “pro-Israel” or “pro-Hamas,” not if they were loyal Americans. A diplomatic mission that polices loyalty with questions like that ceases to function as an American embassy.

I once shared a lunch table with an American ambassador serving abroad. He recounted how, during George Shultz’s tenure as Secretary of State, Shultz would meet newly appointed ambassadors, point to a world map in his office, and ask the appointee to identify their country. Most would point to the country where they had been assigned. Shultz would correct them: “No, your country is the United States. Your duty is to serve your own country’s interests, not those of the country to which you are assigned.”

Ambassador Huckabee and Milstein either never heard that lesson, or serving Israel was their priority.

Rather than representing American interests in Jerusalem, the embassy operates as Israel’s envoy within the US government. Turning the US embassy into a Zionist mission run by the evangelical church, and an indoctrinated Zionist whose stepfather is referred to as “Tel Aviv Levin.”

Here again, no one is accusing Huckabee or Milstein of being foreign agents. Frankly, Israel does not need them to be. It need not recruit them or pay them like Pollard. Officials ideologically devoted to Israel can do the same work from within the U.S. government, under legitimate titles and without risking arrest.

No country receives more American financial and military aid than Israel. Yet US counterintelligence assessments have identified Israel as one of the most aggressive intelligence-gathering threats to the American homeland. Jonathan Pollard and others may have been the quintessential trench-coat spies. But the more dangerous risk is not someone stealing classified files; it is Americans whose loyalty to Israel overrides their duty to the U.S., operating in the halls of the White House and the Pentagon with one focus: serve Israel.

Consider David Frum, who coined President George W. Bush’s “axis of evil” phrase, helping lay the rhetorical roadmap for America’s longest foreign war.

Frum also wrote speeches for Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, making Israel’s case before the international body. The same writer, serving an Israel-first agenda from two different platforms: first helping sell America a war in the Middle East, then making Israel’s case before the world.

In the 21st century, with Zionist control of mainstream corporate media, and these implants inside America’s halls of power, Israel does not require trench coats, or stolen documents. It operates through officials who occupy positions of power deciding what American policymakers read by shaping diplomatic reporting, suppressing information and steering American decisions in ways that advances Israel’s strategic interests over America’s own. And whenever Israel’s interests and Washington’s information needs diverge, the information bends, delivered in plain sight, through official channels, under official titles, and on the American taxpayer’s payroll.