Author Archives: stuartbramhall

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About stuartbramhall

Retired child and adolescent psychiatrist and American expatriate in New Zealand. In 2002, I made the difficult decision to close my 25-year Seattle practice after 15 years of covert FBI harassment. I describe the unrelenting phone harassment, illegal break-ins and six attempts on my life in my 2010 book The Most Revolutionary Act: Memoir of an American Refugee.

Second Largest US Grid Operator Proposes Reliability Rules For Data Centers

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Zero Hedge

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator – the second largest US grid operator after PJM Interconnection – on Friday proposed a set of requirements large loads must meet before they can connect to the grid, including ramping and ride-through specifications.

The “interconnection reliability requirements” framework aims to improve MISO’s visibility into large load “characteristics and behavior, support reliable planning and operational decision-making, and establish scalable and technically justified expectations proportional to demonstrated reliability risk,” the grid operator said in its filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The proposal is a part of MISO’s response to FERC’s mid-June “show cause” orders requiring major grid operators to set rules that meet certain criteria for adding data centers and other large loads to the grid. MISO said it plans to make additional proposals by a Nov. 16 deadline.

MISO’s proposal follows similar actions at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the PJM Interconnection aimed at setting reliability standards for large loads after several incidents where data centers suddenly tripped offline, raising concerns about grid stability.

On average, electric demand was relatively flat between 2009 and 2024, growing by about 0.5% a year, MISO told FERC. Now, the grid operator expects 1% to 2% annual growth through 2044, with higher growth rates in the near term, according to MISO, which runs the grid and wholesale power markets from Louisiana to Minnesota.

MISO’s proposal defines “large loads” as those larger than 50 MW, and “computational loads” as large loads that include at least 25 MW of demand from information technology equipment, such as servers, storage and networking hardware.

The separate computational load classification will allow MISO to target certain requirements just to data centers, the grid operator said.

“Computational loads may exhibit rapid and coordinated changes in demand, significant power-electronic behavior, and distinct responses to transmission system disturbances,” MISO said.

MISO’s proposed reliability framework sets requirements for its transmission customers that take service on behalf of large loads. It covers four main areas:

  • Visibility requirements

To improve MISO’s visibility into large loads on its system, transmission customers must provide MISO with basic information and modeling data on large load facilities, according to the proposal. They must also provide real-time and day-ahead load forecasts for the facilities.

The information is needed “to support planning studies, operational assessments, and accurate representation of large loads behavior and system impacts,” MISO said.

  • Phasor Measurement Unit requirements

The PMU requirements set monitoring expectations for computation loads through high-resolution, time-synchronized measurements, according to MISO.

“PMU data provides MISO with greater visibility into facility behavior during system disturbances and rapid operating changes, supporting model validation, performance verification, disturbance analysis, and identification of potential dynamic interactions with the transmission system,” MISO said.

  • Ramp requirements

MISO said its proposed ramp requirements address the rate at which computational loads may increase or decrease electric use during stable-state transitions.

“Managing rapid changes in demand helps reduce real-time supply-demand imbalances, sudden change in transmission power flows, and associated operational impacts, while supporting more reliable system operation,” MISO said.

  • Ride-through requirements

The proposed measures set minimum disturbance performance requirements for computational loads during voltage and frequency disturbances to reduce the risk of unnecessary disconnection or customer-initiated rapid reductions in demands during system events, MISO said.

MISO’s proposal includes grandfathering provisions to provide certainty to existing and nearly complete commercial arrangements for large loads. MISO asked FERC to let its proposal take effect on Dec. 4.

MISO plans to file additional large load-related proposals, including for additional transmission products and associated study processes, protections against cost shifts and the treatment of generation service to “electrically proximate” large loads, MISO said.

[…]

Via https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/second-largest-us-grid-operator-proposes-reliability-rules-data-centers

Erdogan Signal Turkey Could Join Russia and China Led SCO – Could NATO Be Facing Historical Realignment

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Turkey's Erdogan targets joining Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ...

By NewsWatchmen.com

Turkey has spent years walking a delicate line between East and West. Now, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is signaling that Ankara may be prepared to take that balancing act even further. Following the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Erdogan said Turkey could consider taking its relationship with the China- and Russia-led organization to…

Turkey has spent years walking a delicate line between East and West.

Now, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is signaling that Ankara may be prepared to take that balancing act even further.

Following the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Erdogan said Turkey could consider taking its relationship with the China- and Russia-led organization to a higher level, potentially including full membership.

But Erdogan insists that such a move would not mean abandoning NATO or turning Turkey’s back on the West.

Turkey’s “360-Degree” Foreign Policy

Erdogan attended the SCO gathering in Bishkek on September 1 as Turkey’s president and addressed the organization’s broader role in a changing international system.

Turkey has been a dialogue partner of the SCO since 2012, but it is not currently a full member.

Speaking with journalists aboard his return flight, Erdogan said Turkey’s potential membership should not be interpreted as a departure from existing alliances.

He described Ankara’s objective as increasing Turkey’s international influence through what he called a “360-degree vision.”

That language is significant.

Turkey is already a NATO member. At the same time, Erdogan has cultivated increasingly important relationships with Russia, China and other nations outside the traditional Western alliance structure.

The result is a foreign policy designed to give Ankara options in multiple directions.

The SCO Is Growing in Influence

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has expanded dramatically since its creation.

Its current members include China, Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

At the Bishkek summit, Erdogan described the organization as an important component of an emerging multipolar international order.

He pointed to its enormous population and economic weight while emphasizing opportunities involving transportation corridors, energy security and trade.

Turkey is particularly interested in connecting the SCO region with Europe through transportation and energy infrastructure.

Erdogan specifically discussed aligning the Caspian-crossing Middle Corridor with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

That could give Turkey an increasingly important position between Europe, Russia, Central Asia and China.

Erdogan Meets Putin

The geopolitical significance became even more apparent when Erdogan held a lengthy meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit.

The discussions included nuclear-energy cooperation.

Russia is already building Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear power plant, and Erdogan said the two nations could pursue additional nuclear projects after Akkuyu becomes operational.

This is another example of the complicated relationship between Ankara and Moscow.

Turkey and Russia have disagreed sharply over issues including Syria and Ukraine, yet economic, energy and diplomatic cooperation has continued.

That relationship could become even more consequential if Turkey moves toward deeper SCO participation.

Does This Mean Turkey Is Leaving NATO?

No—not based on Erdogan’s current statements.

Erdogan explicitly rejected the idea that closer SCO relations require Turkey to abandon the West.

Turkey remains a NATO member, and the president emphasized that pursuing relationships with Eastern powers does not necessarily require breaking existing alliances.

But there is an important distinction between leaving NATO and diversifying strategic partnerships.

Turkey appears to be pursuing the second.

And that may ultimately create difficult questions for the Western alliance.

If Turkey becomes more deeply integrated with an organization containing Russia, China and Iran, NATO policymakers will inevitably have to consider how Ankara’s expanding Eastern relationships affect alliance strategy, intelligence cooperation, military planning and regional security.

The Bigger Geopolitical Picture

Turkey’s move is part of a much larger transformation.

The old post-Cold War assumption of a predominantly Western-led international system is facing increasing competition.

Russia and China are strengthening their partnership.

Iran has moved closer to both Moscow and Beijing.

BRICS has expanded.

The SCO continues developing its political and economic relationships.

And nations such as Turkey are increasingly attempting to maintain relationships with competing power centers simultaneously.

News Watchmen previously examined these developments in A New World Order? The BRICS Summit Could Change Everything This July, where Turkey’s interest in BRICS was identified as another indication of Ankara’s expanding strategic options.

[…]

Via watchmen.com/2026/09/03/erdogan-signals-turkey-could-join-china-and-russia-led-sco-is-nato-facing-a-historic-realignment/

US troops will be targeted if they stay past September 30 deadline: Iraqi resistance group

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US Army soldiers board a CH-47 Chinook helicopter after a live-fire exercise at al-Asad Air Base, Iraq. (Photo via US Army)

Press TV

An Iraqi resistance group has vowed to launch strikes on the positions and military facilities of American troops in Iraq should the forces fail to honor the September 30 deadline, when the US-led coalition is scheduled to end its military mission in the country and complete the withdrawal of its soldiers.

“We are closely monitoring circumstances in the lead-up to September 30, and are prepared to wage a decisive battle against the occupation forces if they renege on their commitment to withdraw completely from the Iraqi soil and airspace,” Secretary General of the Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Sheikh Akram al-Ka’abi, said in a statement on Wednesday.

He added, “If any US soldier stays on past the September 30 deadline, they would go back in a coffin.”

Sheikh Ka’abi then addressed President Donald Trump, stressing that he cannot claim a victory in Iraq as the United States has miserably failed to achieve any of its declared objectives in the war of aggression against Iran.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has stated that the September 30 deadline for termination of the US-led coalition’s military mission in Iraq and the full withdrawal of its forces is “fixed and final.”

He has said Iraq will declare complete restoration of sovereignty over all its territory on September 30.

Speaking at a ceremony hosted by the Sunni Endowment Office in the capital Baghdad on August 24 to commemorate the birthday anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Zaidi said the date will mark a major step in Iraq’s efforts to consolidate state authority and national sovereignty.

“On September 30, the Iraqi nation will announce the completion of its sovereignty over all sacred Iraqi land.”

In 2024, Washington and Baghdad came to a consensus to conclude the US-led operations against the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.

US forces withdrew from most bases across Iraq last year; however, they continued to have a presence in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

[…]

Via https://www.presstv.co.uk/Detail/2026/09/03/775578/Iraqi-resistance-group-vows-to-target-US-forces-past-September-30-deadline

Local Mom Dragged Into Court For Trying To Obtain Info On Secret Data Center Deals

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FOREST CITY, NC – APRIL 19: Outside air inlets are seen during a tour of the new Facebook Data Center on April 19, 2012 in Forest City, North Carolina. The company began construction on the facility in November 2010 and went live today, serving the 845 million Facebook users worldwide. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)

John Loftus

An Arkansas mom and healthcare worker obtained a trove of documents about a data center deal between a local energy company and Google. Now, she is caught in a legal fight between the energy company and the news outlet she shared the documents with, with video surfacing of her being dragged into federal court Tuesday, weeping and scared.

Jessica Kivell recently sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Arkansas Public Service Commission, which regulates state electricity prices, regarding a data center deal between Entergy Arkansas and Google, according to the Arkansas Times. The government appeared to have mistakenly handed Kivell the documents, which she then sent to a reporter at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The documents purportedly revealed that Google will not be paying the entire cost of infrastructure upgrades needed to power a new data center in West Memphis, despite claims to the contrary, according to the Arkansas Times. Google will only pay a third of the cost, $526 million, of a new solar array required to power the data center, the outlet reported.

Entergy sent attorneys and officials to a federal courthouse Tuesday to prevent the documents and information from remaining public, according to the Arkansas Times. The company sued the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and requested a restraining order on Kivell, arguing the documents contained trade secrets, the publication of which might violate state and federal laws.

Kivell was “visibly scared” when she arrived in court in her work scrubs after she arranged for her husband to pick up their daughter, according to the Arkansas Times, which was also listed in Entergy’s restraining order request. Throughout a closed-door portion of the hearing, Kivell wept loudly and continued to sob when she returned to the courtroom, the Arkansas Times reported.

U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky issued a ruling Wednesday that denied Entergy’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have prohibited the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from publishing information about the deal. He also denied the restraining order on Kivell.

Entergy disputed the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s reporting and called for a retraction Wednesday.

“The information first published in the Aug. 31 Arkansas Democrat Gazette contains a serious and careless mathematical error,” Entergy alleged. “The calculation accounts for only 12 months of payments rather than the full twenty-year term of the agreement — a fact that was known to the paper but not included in its math.”

“Using the figures published in the article — $443 million plus $83 million minimum annually over 20 years — the total would be approximately $2.103 billion, not the amount reported. That distinction is significant,” the company went on. “In fact, as demonstrated by the evidence submitted to the Arkansas Public Service Commission, Google is not only paying its cost to serve but is delivering $1.1 billion in other benefits to Arkansas customers.”

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette later released a statement in response to Entergy on Wednesday evening, alleging that Entergy “operates on a fallacious and unchecked assumption that the figure in question was the result of a mathematical calculation. This is untrue.”

“Entergy never inquired with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about the source of the number. The figure in question, $526 million, was cited in documents obtained in the records request,” the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said. “The number, in other words, was not the product of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette performing calculations.”

“Independent of us,” the statement continued, “Google repeatedly has cited the same figure of $526 million to other news outlets as well as to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Entergy, in fact, performs calculations in its statement that we have not seen substantiated by the records.”

Google said in a statement that it is “fully committed to covering 100% of the power and infrastructure costs for our West Memphis data center.”

“While upfront payments total $526 million,” Google continued, “our ongoing monthly rates over the 20-year agreement will completely fund our operational footprint.”

[…]

Via https://dailycaller.com/2026/09/03/arkansas-data-center-entergy-google-arkansas-democrat-gazette-jessica-kivell-foia-documents/

New Lego Video About Yesterday’s US Attack on Iranian Wedding

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RT

2 September 2026

A four-year-old and 16-year-old were among five civilians killed.

The pro-Iranian Explosive Media Group has released a Lego-style AI animation showing a deadly US strike on a wedding in southern Iran that killed five civilians, including a child, according to the Iranian authorities.

The video emerged as the US resumed strikes on Iran on Tuesday, saying it was targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sites near the Strait of Hormuz over alleged threats to commercial shipping and US troops. Iran has since launched missile and drone strikes on US military facilities across the region.

The clip circulated on Iranian media on Wednesday along with footage from the scene in Kuhestak, Sirik County, Hormozgan Province, showing extensive damage to the residential building and debris scattered around the site. Iranian media described the attack as the US turning “a wedding in Sirik into mourning.”

At least five people were killed and more than 60 wounded in the strike, many of them women and children, according to Iranian officials. A four-year-old and 16-year-old were among those killed.

Iran’s Red Crescent Society has called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the attack, saying the civilian nature of the site raises “serious concerns” under international humanitarian law. It said the strike could constitute a war crime and called for an independent and impartial investigation.

US Central Command spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said the military is aware of reports of civilian casualties, adding that they originated in Iranian state media. “The US military never targets civilians,” he stated.

US President Donald Trump warned Tehran on Tuesday that if it retaliates, it would be hit “at a much harder and higher level,” adding that an even larger attack is “waiting in the wings” and would leave “very little” of Iran.

In a phone call with Fox News, Trump said Iran will be “totally wiped out” if it strikes back.

Iran subsequently announced its “punishing response,” claiming missile and drone attacks on US military facilities in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, and Erbil in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The IRGC claimed that US personnel and military equipment were hit in some of the attacks.

Lego-style AI videos have become a feature of the online information war surrounding the conflict, with Explosive Media Group among the best-known creators. Their videos have gained millions of views, showing episodes from the fighting, often accompanied by rap music.

Iranian-American Lego cartoonist Mahdi Hemmat, another creator whose animations have gone viral, told RT earlier this year that this content helps Tehran challenge Washington’s narrative. America’s “old ‘believe what we say’ approach no longer works,” he said, because “reality is streaming live.”

Hemmat described Iran’s online strategy as “low cost, high impact,” saying content produced by independent creators could force “billion-dollar media empires to play defense.” He said his animations are based on “verifiable events anyone can deep dive into.”

[…]

Via https://www.rt.com/news/645050-iran-lego-video-us-attack/

Why did two Ukrainian special services units just have a gunfight in Kiev?

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Why did two Ukrainian special services units just have a gunfight in Kiev? (VIDEOS)
©  Social network
RT
Sept 2, 2026
While the SBU and HUR battled over a neo-Nazi unit commander Vladimir Zelensky issued a threat to all civil aviation in Russia 

Personnel from two of Ukraine’s most powerful security services were engaged in an open gunfight in central Kiev overnight that left three servicemen injured and a pool of blood outside an apartment block.

The gunfight between the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and military intelligence agency the HUR is widely linked to a dispute over a deputy commander of a notorious Russian commander of neo-Nazi unit operating under the HUR’s umbrella.

Vladimir Zelensky’s head of office, Kirill Budanov, has decried the tribal gun violence between services while his boss threatened all civil aviation in Russia, which has obviously kept the media busy.

Where did the shooting take place?

Witnesses reported gunfire overnight in the eastern part of the Ukrainian capital

Video filmed from an apartment building showed people moving around several vehicles stopped in the middle of an alleyway as shouting and repeated gunshots rang out.

Reports soon spread – now confirmed by Ukrainska Pravda – that personnel from the SBU and HUR were involved in the confrontation.

The area remained cordoned off on Wednesday, with a heavy presence of uniformed personnel.

Source: Social media

What’s the actual background to the gunfight?

Ukrainian media have linked the SBU’s claims to the recent detention of a senior figure in a neo-Nazi linked Kiev unit called the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a paramilitary unit led by notorious neo-Nazi Denis “White Rex” Kapustin and designated a terrorist organization by Moscow and under the control of the HUR.

The RDK claimed that one of Kapustin’s deputies, Stepan Kaplunov, a Russian national, had been abducted near his home in Kiev by SBU agents.

The video above records Kaplunov’s detention and features so “fruity” Russian from both the camerwoman, who tells the men claiming to police where to go, and from the captive, who screams “help!” in Russian before being driven off.

Ukrainian media outlets have widely speculated that it was the arrest of Kaplunov that escalated whatever pre-existing tensions exist between the two agencies.

Who controls Ukraine’s HUR and SBU?

The SBU is run by Aleksandr Polkad, a former deputy defense minister and the third person to occupy the office in 2026. Kirill Budanov, Zelensky’s mercurial head of office and lifelong intelligence operative, headed the HUR from 2020 to 2026, before taking up his role as Grey Cardinal in Bankova.

What excuses have each agency offered for the gunfight?

The SBU claimed that it had actually thwarted an attempted assassination by gunmen linked to Russian security services targeting “one of the leaders of the Russian national opposition movement,” and even HUR assistance.

The agency claimed that the purported assassins attacked Ukrainian personnel while they were carrying out a search at the location. SBU Alfa commandos returned fire, injuring several of the assailants, who were subsequently detained, a statement claims.

The HUR issued a similar statement but later removed it. Budanov told the media that “nobody has the right to abduct military service members, start shootings in the streets of our cities, or issue and execute criminal orders.”

Are the SBU and HUR rivals?

Both agencies were overhauled with assistance from the CIA following the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, according to Western media reports. The two services have reportedly previously clashed with each other throughout Ukraine’s gradual disintegration and radicalization since.

In 2022, the SBU reportedly summarily executed a Ukrainian negotiator whom the agency suspected of spying for Russia. The victim, banker Denys Kireyev, was later revealed to have been working for the HUR.

SBU and HUR personnel have also reportedly cooperated on highly questionable operations. The bombing of exiled Ukrainian businessman Vadim Ermolaev in Monaco in June was allegedly organized by an active-duty HUR officer and suspected covert SBU agent. Ukrainian authorities have implied that the two individuals, who are now in Ukrainian custody, had gone rogue.

Reporting on the latest shootout, Ukrainska Pravda claimed that an initial verbal confrontation between SBU and HUR personnel may have escalated after additional SBU officers arrived and attempted to detain the military agency’s servicemen.

Is there an explanation for the flare-up?

A law enforcement source cited by the Ukrainian outlet Strana claimed that Kaplunov may have been involved in the operation of Ukraine’s notorious scam centers, criminal networks that steal millions from innocent victims around the world.

Coincidentally also on Tuesday, the day RDK pressed the issue of Kuplanov’s arrest, Zelensky announced plans for a crackdown on such operations.

Some Ukrainian journalists have claimed that part of the HUR’s budget is funded through criminal activity and that a potential decline in those revenues is putting pressure on the fragile balance between the private enrichment of corrupt officials and the operational interests of the intelligence agency.

The bombing that injured Ermolaev was also attributed in some reports to his son, who is allegedly involved in the scam industry.

What has Vladmir Zelensky said?

Zelensky took the very moment of a gunfight between his two primary security agencies over a senior member of a neo-Nazi linked armed unit in the Ukrainian capital, as the right time to launch his unprecedented threat against civil aviation in Russia, decried by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a call for “state terrorism.”

Ukrainian media sources have cited Bankova insiders admitting to an effective clan- or gang-war at the heart of the Ukrainian security state, between the HUR and SBU. Given mounting military setbacks, rampant corruption and the prospects of a freezing winter ahead, the last thing Zelensky would want is internecine warfare within his security state.

[…]

Via https://www.rt.com/russia/645051-sbu-hur-shootout-kiev/

Two tankers heeding US instructions destroyed by mines in Strait of Hormuz

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Fire and smoke billows from Norwegian-owned Front Altair tanker after it hit a mine near the Strait of Hormuz, June 13, 2026. (Photo via social media)

Press TV

Sept 2, 2026

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says two oil tankers have been stopped after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, warning shipping companies against following US instructions and using unauthorized routes.

In a statement on Wednesday, the IRGC announced the two tankers had evacuated their crews after being encouraged by the US military and had been placed at the disposal of American-linked elements to pass through an unauthorized route.

“Two oil tankers that had been deceived by the US military were stopped after hitting mines and exploding, and are now burning,” the IRGC said.

The statement noted that the IRGC Navy had previously warned vessels about the dangers of passing through mined areas.

“Additional punishments have been envisaged for shipping companies that, instead of following legal routes, are deceived by the Americans, and these measures will soon be implemented,” the IRGC warned.

The IRGC also condemned a recent US attack on a wedding celebration in southern Iran, describing it as part of “the campaign of intimidation against the Iranian people.”

“The attack on residential areas and the targeting of a wedding ceremony by the enemy is a clear example of a war crime and exposes the evil nature of ‘American human rights,’” the statement said.

Such attacks would not weaken Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and the Iranian people would not be intimidated by US acts of brutality, the IRGC added.

Separately, Iran’s Army reported on Wednesday that it had carried out a new wave of drone attacks on US positions at the Al Dhafra and Al Minhad bases in the UAE and the Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.

The Army said dozens of explosive drones targeted US radar systems and troop positions at the two UAE bases, while Arash drones struck radar facilities and US troop gathering points at Sheikh Isa Air Base.

Meanwhile, the IRGC said its forces had struck the command compound and living quarters of the US commander at Kuwait’s Ali Al-Salem Air Base, as well as drone hangars there.

The latest round of aggression against Iran began on February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched large-scale strikes on Iranian territory.

Iran’s Armed Forces responded with daily waves of missiles and drones targeting US and Israeli assets across the region, and closed the Strait of Hormuz to US and allied vessels.

On June 17, Iran and the US signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in an effort to end the wars across all fronts.

In recent weeks, in violation of the MoU, the US has continued its naval blockade of Iran and struck multiple locations in southern Iran, prompting Tehran to target US military facilities across the region and close the strategic waterway again.

[…]

Via https://www.presstv.co.uk/Detail/2026/09/02/775527/IRGC-Two-oil-tankers-following-US-instructions-explode-after-hitting-mines-in-Strait-of-Hormuz

Hamas fighters confront Israeli special forces during Gaza incursion

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(Photo credit: AFP)

The Cradle

SEP 1, 2026

Israel reportedly intervened with brutal air cover to rescue the surrounded forces, killing at least three, including children

An Israeli force was discovered in Gaza City on 1 September, triggering major clashes and the killing of several Palestinian civilians as Tel Aviv carried out intensive airstrikes on the Katiba area, according to multiple reports and comments.

Gaza Government Media Office director Ismail Thawabta said the force was detected, prompting the army to launch brutal strikes to cover the force’s withdrawal. This resulted in a massacre.

At least three were killed in the Israeli strikes, including two children.

“An Israeli special force infiltrated western Gaza City before being discovered and surrounded, triggering clashes in the area. Israeli forces launched intensive airstrikes, drone fire and smoke bombs around Katiba … attempting to secure the infiltrating force’s withdrawal,” Palestine Chronicle reported, citing field sources.

Quds News Network (QNN) also reported on the clash.

The Al-Majd al-Amini website reported earlier on Tuesday that “an Israeli special force attempted to carry out a security operation aimed at targeting a figure from the resistance, but security forces thwarted the mission.”

“The failure is an embarrassment for the occupation army,” the report added.

Al-Quds al-Ikhbariya said in a separate report that Hamas fighters attempted to capture members of an Israeli special force that had infiltrated the area, but Israeli air cover prevented the operation’s success.

Other reports claimed the force may have belonged to an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia, of which there are many in the strip.

The reports coincided with claims from Israeli War Minister Israel Katz that a senior Hamas member was detained by occupation forces in Gaza.

“The activity of our forces in Gaza City continues at all times. A short while ago, a senior Hamas terrorist was arrested. This is our policy: We do not wait for threats, we pursue Hamas terrorists, thwart them, and destroy their terror infrastructure,” the war chief said at an event on Tuesday.

The minister did not provide any further details on the alleged abduction. Meanwhile, Israel’s daily attacks across the strip continued.

Since the US launched its so-called peace and ceasefire plan in Gaza in October 2025, over 1,300 Palestinians have been killed by the ongoing Israeli genocide taking place across the strip.

The flow of aid into Gaza also remains severely restricted by Tel Aviv.

Currently, the death toll from over two years of Israeli genocide, beginning in October 2023, stands at over 73,000. However, Israel’s destruction of the health system in Gaza has made counting deaths extremely difficult for authorities.

Thousands of bodies remain missing or trapped beneath the rubble, while thermobaric weapons provided by Washington and used by Israel have reportedly incinerated thousands more.

Researchers and medical journals such as The Lancet have said the actual number may be much higher – potentially in the hundreds of thousands, including indirect deaths.

[…]

Via https://thecradle.co/articles/hamas-fighters-confront-israeli-special-forces-during-gaza-incursion-report

Israel awaiting US greenlight to forcibly expel Palestinians from Gaza

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(Photo credit: Jehad Alshrafi / AP)

The Cradle

SEP 2, 2026

The plan to forcibly displace the people of Gaza goes back decades, but the states pressured to receive them have refused

Israeli War Minister Israel Katz said that the Israeli military is prepared to forcibly expel Palestinians living in Gaza by any means necessary, and is only awaiting the green light from the US, Israeli news outlet Ynet reported on 2 September.

“There is no real solution for Gaza in the end. The Migration Directorate is ready to do this by sea, by air and by any means. Egypt is not willing for it to go through its territory,” Katz said.

Katz said the countries prepared to take in Palestinians expelled from Gaza are waiting on Washington’s approval before acting, and that US President Donald Trump has put the plan on hold rather than killed it.

He claimed Arab governments pressed Trump to freeze it, offering investment and agreeing to the disarmament of Hamas in exchange.

“It has not been canceled. It is being discussed all the time, including now, and I think there is no other solution in the end that is in everyone’s interest,” he said.

Katz said the plan needs US backing, and is counting on Hamas breaching its ”commitments” to give Israel the pretext it needs to ethnically cleanse Gaza by force.

“The moment will come when it becomes clear that Hamas is not honoring its commitment. Then we will get the green light to advance militarily, territorially and in other areas as well,” he said, claiming that most of the people of Gaza want to leave the strip but are prevented from doing so by Hamas.

As the destruction of Gaza and the daily killing of its people by Israeli forces continues unabated, Trump’s so-called Board of Peace has abandoned its reconstruction plans for Gaza in favor of a pilot concentration camp consisting of prefabricated units in the buffer zone along the ceasefire line near the destroyed city of Rafah, holding tens of thousands of the strip’s 2 million displaced Palestinians.

A Haaretz investigation published on 16 November 2025 found that the Israeli War Ministry’s Voluntary Migration Directorate referred an obscure group run by a dual Israeli-Estonian citizen to the Israeli army’s COGAT to arrange the departure of Palestinians from Gaza, with more than 350 leaving through it between May and November 2025 on chartered flights that cost them around $2,000 a seat and whose destinations they were not told.

The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa called the group an unregistered and misleading operation that preyed on Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe, deceived families, took their money, and then disowned them, warning Palestinians against human trafficking networks, blood merchants, and displacement agents.

Israel’s drive to forcibly expel the besieged population of Gaza has sat at the top of its agenda for decades.

Egypt and Jordan have rejected it outright, with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi saying millions of Egyptians would take to the streets against the displacement of Gaza’s people.

US-Israeli planners and right‑wing politicians reportedly floated Morocco, Puntland, and Somaliland as possible relocation sites, while a shadowy network has already flown a number of Palestinians from Gaza to South Africa, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

[…]

Via https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-awaiting-us-greenlight-to-forcibly-expel-palestinians-from-gaza

Panama Canal: China Shows Limits of Trump’s New Monroe Doctrine

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By Uriel Araujo
September 01, 2026

The intensifying US-China rivalry over the Panama Canal has shown the practical limits of Washington’s renewed push for hemispheric dominance.

What started as US pressure on Panama to sideline Chinese-linked companies from key canal ports has not delivered a clear American win.

Instead, Beijing has shown that its commercial and shipping influence can outlast even when coercive moves succeed on the ground.

To recap, in early 2025, the Trump administration, through Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had pressured Panama to reduce Chinese “control” of the Canal – or else Washington would take “measures necessary”. In January 2026, Panama’s Supreme Court declared the legal framework for Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison’s concessions at the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals unconstitutional, effectively voiding them.

Panamanian forces then took control, transferring operations to interests linked to Maersk and MSC. For many in Washington this looked like a textbook success for what has been called the “Donroe Doctrine,” an updated version of the old Monroe Doctrine aimed, among other things, at keeping non-hemispheric competitors away from strategic assets.

As noted by Benjamin N. Gedan (Senior Fellow and the Director of the Stimson Center Latin America program), Trump’s National Security Strategy had promised to deny such rivals control of vital infrastructure in the Western Hemisphere, and the canal clearly qualified.

Yet China did not simply absorb the loss. It increased safety inspections  of ships flying the Panama flag.

As Antonio C. Hsiang points out (an  assistant professor at the Graduate Institute for Latin American Studies, Tamkang University), official Chinese data noted that these ships accounted for less than 20 percent of foreign calls at its ports – but nearly half of maritime accidents and casualties.

The result, in any case, was hundreds of Panama-flagged vessels detained at Chinese ports in the first half of 2026. In June alone, 264 cargo ships reflagged away from Panama, following 180 in May and 78 in April. The registry’s gross tonnage contracted by 4.8% – its sharpest decline since records began in 2006

A Panamanian maritime delegation visited China in July. After that, inspections eased, and detentions dropped sharply by the end of the month. The two sides also reached a consensus to move forward with renewing their bilateral maritime transport agreement, which grants preferential treatment to Panamanian-flagged vessels at Chinese ports, although formal renewal is still pending

Recently, CK Hutchison launched separate arbitration proceedings seeking more than $1.5 billion in damages, adding to the more than $2 billion claim already pursued by its Panamanian subsidiary.

Panama’s large ship registry remains a major global asset, and China’s ability to exert pressure on it (indirectly retaliating American interference) shows leverage through trade and shipping that no court ruling can erase.

It is worth recalling that Panama was the first Latin American country to join the Belt and Road Initiative after switching recognition from Taiwan in 2017.

China remains a top trading partner, and alternatives such as Peru’s Chinese-operated Chancay port continue to expand regional options beyond the Panama Canal. The port is emerging as a major Pacific hub that shortens shipping times between South America and China, potentially boosting South American agribusiness exports, while offering an alternative logistics gateway. So much for any notion that removing operators from two terminals in Panama would cleanly restore a US-“dominated” hemisphere.

The episode also fits what Antonio C. Hsiang describes as a wider pattern of US “wedge’ strategies” in Latin America.

According to the analyst, Washington combines coercive pressure on states “aligned with China”, as in Panama, with financial incentives for governments more willing to accommodate US interests, as seen in Argentina’s $40 billion rescue talks. In a more aggressive case, Hsiang argues, Brazil is being pushed harder through tariffs, sanctions, and terrorist designations against local criminal gangs, even as China solidifies its position as the country’s top trading partner.

Back in December 2024, I commented that Trump’s threats against Panama reflected a neo-Monroeism that would boost great-power competition in the Americas – rather than simply reassert exclusive control. Later, the “Greater North America” concept (stretching from Greenland to the Panama Canal) further revealed how Washington seeks to redefine the hemisphere as its security perimeter.

Yet the approach faces structural limits, as Gedan argues. The US remains overstretched elsewhere, while Latin American states still retain economic alternatives.

The American success in capturing Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and the ongoing talks about “regime-change” in Cuba display a degree of hubris. Those moves project decisive power against weaker governments. But reach is not the same as durable control.

The Panama case is therefore a blunt reminder that China’s economic and maritime ties cannot be dismantled by pressure alone. Thus far, Latin America is increasingly becoming a contested space between the US and China rather than a restored American “backyard”.

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Via https://www.globalresearch.ca/panama-canal-china-shows-limits-trump-new-monroe-doctrine/5938600