World Bank: Global Economy on Track for Worst Half-Decade of Growth in 30 Years

"The World Bank warned Tuesday that the global economy is moving toward its worst half-decade of growth in 30 years.....The bank’s Global Economic Prospects report forecasted that global growth would slow in 2024, dropping to 2.4 percent from the 2.6 percent recorded in 2023." Breitbart

Drones attack oil depot and energy facility in Russia's Oryol Oblast

"Drones attacked an oil depot and energy facility in the city of Oryol, Oryol Oblast of the Russian Federation. According to Ukrainska Pravdaʼs source, this operation was carried out by Ukraine's Defence Intelligence with the assistance of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Come Back Alive Foundation." Pravada

Ecuadorian TV crew taken hostage as camera rolls

"A TV news crew in Ecuador has been taken hostage by masked assailants who stormed the station’s studio during a broadcast, waving guns and explosives as a presenter pleaded for help.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon amid a sudden and brutal nationwide wave of violence and kidnappings, after President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency to combat “narcoterrorists.”
Presidential spokesman Roberto Izurieta Canova later said on X (formerly Twitter) that “the vast majority” of the hostages has been rescued." RT

Ukraine reports 64 combat clashes on front lines

"Sixty-four combat engagements took place between Ukrainian forces and Russian

troops.Ukrainian aircraft struck nine areas of concentration of enemy personnel.
Ukrainian rocket forces, in turn, struck an area of concentration of enemy personnel, weapons and military equipment, and two artillery pieces of the Russians.
The enemy launched a missile strike, 29 air strikes and 17 attacks using multiple rocket launchers against the positions of Ukrainian troops and Ukrainian cities and villages." Ukrin

Ukraine carried out a successful attack on the Saky military airbase

"Ukraine’s

military said it carried out a successful attack on the Saky military airbase in the
west of the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. “Saki airfield! All targets were hit!” Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram. He also published a photo appearing to show the airfield." AJ

Palestinian mob vandalizes sacred Joshua's Altar in West Bank

"A mob of Palestinians has caused damage to Joshua's Altar in the West Bank, a location held sacred by countless Jews and Christians.
The altar, situated at Mount Ebal, suffered damage when rioters set tires ablaze on its remnants and marked the stones with Palestinian flags and Arabic writings last week, as reported by the Jerusalem Post." RebelNews

Farmers, Truckers Block Dozens of Highways in Germany Protesting Fuel Tax Increases

"Footage shows a massive convoy of farmers and truckers occupying the streets of several German towns in a week-long effort to express their discontent with new taxes and regulations aligning with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030." IW

Hezbollah commander killed in Lebanon

"A senior commander of Hezbollah’s elite special forces unit has been killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon....Hezbollah’s military media office confirmed the death of Wissam al-Tawil, deputy head of the militant group’s secretive Radwan commando unit." RT

Russian troops launch 18 attacks on border areas in Sumy region

"Russian troops shelled the border settlements of Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region 18
times." Ukrin

Palestinian Terrorists Shoot, Kill Israeli Arab; Mistook Him for a Jew

"Palestinian terrorists shot and killed Ammar Mansour, a 33-year-old Israeli Arab citizen

because they mistook him for a Jewish Israeli, according to media reports.The East Jerusalem man killed in this morning’s shooting terror attack in the West Bank is named by Hebrew media as Ammar Mansour of the Beit Hanina neighborhood.
Mansour, 33, an Israeli citizen, was killed in his car on Route 465, with the IDF saying the motive was terror-related. The suspected Palestinian gunmen fled the scene and Israeli forces are searching for them.
Israeli writer Hen Mazzig noted that Mansour, a father of two, was mistaken for an Israeli Jew." Breitbart

45 combat clashes

"Over the past 24 hours, 45 combat engagements were reported along the frontline in Ukraine.

In total, the enemy launched nine missile strikes and 84 airstrikes, as well as 50 rocket salvos, on the positions of Ukrainian troops and on populated areas. As a result of Russian terrorist attacks, unfortunately, civilian casualties and damage to civil infrastructure were

reported.

Russia also launched 22 Shahed kamikaze drones, of which 19 were intercepted.

Russian airstrikes hit the settlements of Oleksandrivka, Vovchansk, Prykolotne, Chuhunivka, Synkivka, Petropavlivka, Ivanivka, and Tabaivka of Kharkiv region; Serebryanske Forestry of Luhansk region; Terny, Yampolivka, Spirne, New York, Oleksandropil, Novobakhmutivka, Avdiivka, Novomykhailivka, and Staromaiorske of Donetsk region; Novodarivka, Mala Tokmachka, Robotyne, Novodanilivka, Orikhiv, and Pyatikhatki of Zaporizhzhia region; and Zmiivka of Kherson region.
More than 100 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions came under Russian artillery fire.
In the Volyn and Polissia directions, the operational situation saw no significant changes." Ukrin

Ukraine says Russian missile attack kills 11 in eastern town

"At least 11 people, including five children, have been killed by a Russian missile attack in and around the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, according to the regional governor.
Eight people were also wounded when Russian missiles hit the area, Vadym Filashkin, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region, said." AJ

US intelligence confirms Islamic State's Afghanistan branch behind Iran blasts

"Communications intercepts collected by the United States confirmed that Islamic State’s

(ISIS) Afghanistan-based branch carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people, two sources familiar with the intelligence told Reuters. ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying two operatives wearing explosive suicide belts staged the attack during a memorial service for Qassem Soleimani, a senior military commander assassinated in Iraq in a 2020 US drone strike.
The Sunni Muslim militant group, however, did not specify that its Afghanistan-based affiliate, known as ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), was responsible for the bombings in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman." MS

Indian warship intercepts vessel in Arabian Sea after hijacking

"An Indian warship intercepted a merchant ship owhich had been hijacked in the Arabian Sea off the Somalian coast. All members of the crew, including 15 Indian nationals, had been

rescued, the Navy said.
The MV Lila Norfolk, a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier that had been boarded by six armed men, had been kept under continuous surveillance since the incident, through a combination of maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), MQ9B predator drones, and helicopters, the military said.
The INS Chennai, a Kolkata class stealth-guided missile destroyer on “anti-piracy” patrol in the region, was diverted towards the hijacked ship after the Navy received a distress call. The attempt at hijacking by the would-be pirates was “probably abandoned” due to a “forceful warning” of intervention, the Navy observed in a post on X (formerly Twitter)." RT

US intelligence officials determined the Chinese spy balloon used a US internet provider to communicate

"Intelligence officials have revealed a Chinese spy balloon that flew across the US for a week

in February used an American internet service provider to communicate.
The balloon had drifted east and entered US airspace over Alaska on 28 January and was tracked as it flew over Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana, where nuclear assets are stored. The report stated that the balloon was connected to a US-based company and communicating with China about its navigation.
It further stated that the connection 'allowed the balloon to send burst transmissions or high-bandwidth collections of data over short periods of time' to its home base in China.
The channel has not released the name of the company." MS