Category: WORLD NEWS

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Hurricane Michael destroyed miles of shoreline in Mexico Beach. City officials say there was less than 12 feet of beach left.The Bay County Tourist Development Council began a three-month beach renourishment project, extending the beach by about 145 feet. They completed the project on May 1.However, the dredging project brought up more than just sand. Panama City Police searching for missing 16-year-old AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“They have these giant machines that the company brought in, and it just pumped up from the ocean, and it goes right into the conveyor belts, and they have a lot of like fingers that go through it with the machines, and it pulls out anything on a large scale. So that pulls a lot of the shells up,” Mexico Beach Public Works Director Mark Steele said.The city trucked the extra shells over to the Mexico Beach boat ramp and opened it up to the public to search for shells on Friday and Saturday, June 6-7.Shell collectors brought out their buckets and rakes in search of a unique shell. They could collect up to five gallons of shells a day.There are thousands of different types of shells that collectors could find.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“This is a Strombus Alatus. It’s a sad one, but it is the Strombus Alatus. There’s also the Left-Handed Lightning Whelk Sinistrofulgur Sinistrum. And then there’s these pretty little olives that everybody’s picking up because they’re shiny. And this is Americoliva, subspecies Sarasototensis, which is the Gulf species,” Shell Researcher David Berschauer said.Many were searching for one of the rarest types of shells, only found in the deep ocean.“We’re looking for the Junonia. I think there’s a lot of people that are looking for those. It’s like the most elusive shell that people look for, and this is an example of one that’s broken, but you can get the idea. It looks kind of like giraffe spots,” Shell Collector Bryan Cummings said.The leftover shells will be used in erosion projects throughout Mexico Beach.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement Overturned dump truck, possible fuel spill cause shut down on Rock Hill Road in DeFuniak Springs “A lot of it will be used for public works to help people around the city with the parks. Some will be crushed down for parking lots. And they kind of supplement some of our stormwater systems with the drainage. So we do plan on using quite a bit for city use,” Steele said.Due to the success of the event, Mexico Beach plans to open up additional days for shell collection throughout the next few weeks.Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com.

By Riley Lehman

June 7, 2025June 8, 2025

Relying on a tribal militia or clan in Gaza may work in the short term. However, in the long term it is unlikely to achieve success.On June 5, reports confirmed that Israel has been arming and apparently supporting or working with armed militias in Gaza. Some reports refer to this group as a “gang.” Other reports describe the leader of the group, Yasser Abu Shabab, as a member of a large clan in southern Gaza.There may be more clans being activated or encouraged than just the one linked to Yasser Abu Shabab. Shabab is not his real name and his name is a nomme de guerre, meaning the full details about this group continue to be shrouded in some mystery.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs the details are shrouded in some fog, it is hard to know if these groups will become an effective anti-Hamas movement. If the groups aregangs that are more well-known for looting and crimes in the past, rather than achieving much, then they will likely not be embraced by the average people.If the groups are made up of clans or even men with links to Bedouin tribes, then it’s possible that it will be hard for them to make inroads among other Gazans. It’s worth asking whether the new militias in Gaza may be effective and whether history tells us that arming militias is an effective tactic.First, let’s look at what we know about Gaza. It’s worth noting that Gaza’s population is divided into different groups. There are people who came to Gaza as refugees in 1949 1949, fleeing areas in the Negev that became part of Israel.These people likely make up more than half the population of Gaza. Then there are the people in Gaza who trace their heritage to people who lived in Gaza for hundreds of years before 1948. Those people could be called the original Gazans. They are very different than those called “refugees.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe refugees moved to camps such as Khan Younis, Rafah, Maghazai, Deir al-Balah, Jabaliya, Nuseirat and Shati. The camps became the backbone of the Palestinian political and armed movements. They also became a hotbed of Hamas activity in the 1980s and 1990s, and thus a hotbed of terrorist activity. The Gaza Gazans, who predate 1948, are less inclined toward Hamas.Illustration of drones circling Hamas terrorists. (photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90, Yuri Coretz /AFP, pixelfit from Getty Images Signature)Will the militias be accepted by Palestinian society?This means that any attempt by the armed militias, gangs or clans will face hurdles in terms of penetrating Gazan society. This is because groups that have roots in one area, may not be popular in others, or they may even alienate people.Back in the 1980s, Gazan families and clans were often involved in violence against one another. This kind of family violence is also common to Arab villages in Israel, where there has been an unprecedented level of gun violence in recent years. This kind of violence means people are often divided and it is hard to unify them, either militarily or politically.What does history tell us about the challenge that militaries or countries have in recruiting or arming tribes, mercenaries, militias or other types of paramilitary groups? In antiquity, it was not uncommon for tribes to play a role as auxiliaries alongside normal military formations.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn addition, it was common that when countries were at war they would often bring along a cavalcade of smaller allies. For instance, when Hannibal was fighting Rome, he had to recruit people from Italy because the actual number of Carthaginians in his army began to decline over time.By the 15th and 16th century, mercenaries played a major role in fighting amongst the Italian city states. This was the era of Machiavelli, who wrote that mercenaries were often “disunited, ambitious, [and] undisciplined.” However, mercenaries continued to be used by European states.The British employed Hessian mercenaries and others during the Revolutionary War. These groups generally did not prove effective. In addition, the British and other colonial powers often relied on alliances with tribes to help during wartime or to keep the peace on the frontier.For instance, at the battle of Isandlwana, the British army fighting the Zulus included a number of local native troops. The native troops of the Natal Native Contingent, for instance, included tribes that had fought the Zulus. Henan Cortes, during his conquest of the Aztec empire, allied with groups that had been suppressed by the Aztecs in the past.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn the modern times, many countries have sought to work with tribes and militias. For instance, Lawrence of Arabia worked with tribes that were in revolt against the Ottoman Empire. During the Vietnam war, the US often worked with Montagnard fighters who opposed the Communists.The US also worked with the Hmong people in Laos. Later, during the US occupation in Iraq the US relied on a group called the Sons of Iraq or Sahweh, which were Sunni tribal militias. These were concentrated in Anbar province. Rwanda has long backed groups in eastern Congo who are made up of members of the Tutsi minority.What this history tells us is that there is a long tradition of working with tribal militias, clans, gangs or mercenaries. However, historically these groups do not have a lasting ability to achieve results. Usually, they are used as part of a policy and then they are usually abandoned when a war is over. In other cases, they simply fade away.The Sunni “awakening” groups in Iraq, for instance, were starved of resources after the US left Iraq in 2011. Some of the tribes that supported the US continued to play a role. During the ISIS invasion of Iraq, a number of tribes near Haditha helped hold off the ISIS attack.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThese included the Jughayfa tribe and the Albu Nimr tribe. ISIS persecuted tribal groups that resisted. Key Sunni tribes such as the Shammar opposed ISIS and similar extremists. However, most of these tribes are not able to operate on a national level, they can only help secure certain areas.The use of tribes and militias usually enables states to carve out areas of influence in states they are intervening in. When there is a chaotic state on the border or a weak state, countries will often seek to arm local groups to help protect their borders.This can backfire because the groups may end up going on rampages and massacring people, or they may escalate a war in a neighboring country. The Vietnam War, for instance, destabilized Cambodia and Laos and this led to great suffering over the years.Minority groups who were exploited as allies were often betrayed. In other situations states will try to co-opt or even work with drug cartels, which is how Mexico’s former PRI appeared to have run the country in the 1980s and 1990s. When this broke down the country fell into a brutal cycle of violence as the cartels had become more powerful than some state governments.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRelying on a tribal militia or clan in Gaza may work in the short term. However, in the long term it is unlikely to achieve success. The theory that Israeli soldiers’ lives will be saved via this alliance is not necessarily proven by history.Usually, when states think they can provide guns to tribes or militias as a short-term fix, they find out later that they are drawn into more complex wars. For instance, the spillover from the Rwandan genocide has led to fighting in eastern Congo for thirty years.Has the use of proxies and tribes and militias there helped Rwanda or Congo or anyone else in the long term? Probably not. The same can be said for Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia or many other states teetering on failure and civil war. A long civil war in Gaza will likely harm Israel in the long term.

By BY SETH J. FRANTZMAN

June 7, 2025June 7, 2025

The IDF announced on Friday that four Israeli soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, when a bomb detonated, causing a building to collapse on the troops.Sergeant Uri Yehonatan Cohen, 20, from Neve Yarak, and Sergeant Major Tom Rotstein, 23, from Ramat Gan, fighters in the Yahalom unit, Combat Engineering Corps, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF confirmed on Saturday.The IDF announced on Friday that four Israeli soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, when a bomb detonated, causing a building to collapse on the troops clearing the area.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWarrant Officer, (Warr. Ofc.) Chen Gross, and Staff-Sergeant (St.-Sgt.) Yoav Raver were the other two soldiers killed during the same incident.The deaths of these four soldiers bring the total number of soldiers killed this week to eight.The incident occurred at approximately 6 a.m., IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin informed.IDF soldiers Yoav Raver and Chen Gross fell in the Gaza Strip, June 2025. (photo credit: ILLUSTRATION)The operation took place as part of the IDF’s efforts to destroy terror infrastructure in the area, aiming to establish continuous control. The building that the troops entered is situated above a tunnel system, so it was necessary to enter and investigate it.The aftermath of Friday’s Gaza explosionThe Israeli army is using various methods to counter Hamas’s regular use of explosives, Brig.-Gen. Defrin stated. When asked why soldiers are sent into buildings instead of using airstrikes, Defrin responded that sometimes it’s necessary to investigate tunnel routes or other terror infrastructure, though he could not elaborate further.In addition, the IDF held a security assessment Friday morning at the Southern Command, where senior officials, including Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, reviewed and approved ongoing operational plans in Gaza. A preliminary investigation into the deadly incident was also presented. While no specific findings were disclosed, Defrin emphasized that lessons will be learned.

By BY JERUSALEM POST STAFF

June 7, 2025June 7, 2025

Liberia’s former speaker of parliament has been charged with arson over a fire which destroyed the nation’s House of Representatives, local police have said.The huge blaze broke out last December, a day after plans to remove Jonathan Fonati Koffa from his role as speaker sparked protests in the capital, Monrovia.Koffa had been locked in a stand-off with his political opponents, with dozens of lawmakers voting for his impeachment in October over accusations of poor governance, corruption and conflicts of interest.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKoffa has previously denied any connection to the fire breaking out.Police said on Friday that there were “credible links” to suggest Koffa was “strategically involved” in the incident. Five other lawmakers have also been detained in connection to the case.Police chief Gregory Colman said Koffa had been charged with a string of offences including arson, criminal mischief, endangering other people, and attempted murder.Colman said Koffa had used his office and staff “to co-ordinate sabotage efforts from as early as November 2023”, according to news agency AFP.Koffa and several other lawmakers were summoned to the Liberian National Police headquarters on Friday as “persons of interest” in the case, local media reports.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe former speaker and three sitting members of the House of Representatives were then remanded to Monrovia Central Prison on Saturday, newspaper FrontPage Africa reported.The blaze on 18 December 2024 destroyed the entire joint chambers of the West African nation’s legislature. No one was inside the building at the time.The day before had seen tense protests over the plans to remove Koffa, with demonstrators including an aide to former President George Weah arrested.Several individuals, including Koffa and Representative Frank Saah Foko, were brought in for questioning by police.Foko, a prominent figure in the House of Representatives, allegedly uploaded a video to Facebook in which he said: “If they want us to burn the chambers, we will burn it.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA team of independent US investigators brought in to assist the investigation concluded that the fire was set deliberately.Liberia’s House of Representatives has been beset by a long-running power struggle.Although the bid to impeach Koffa fell short of the two-thirds majority required, the group of 47 lawmakers who had voted for the move unilaterally appointed their own speaker.Last month, Koffa resigned as speaker after months of political deadlock.

By Jessica Rawnsley - BBC News

June 7, 2025June 7, 2025