It was supposed to be an ordinary Saturday morning in Sderot, southern Israel, but David Michalowsky, a resident of the city, says they all woke up to the sound of air-raid sirens.
“This is quite normal here,” he told RT, referring to a procedure activated by Israel’s home command that’s designed to warn residents of upcoming rockets and give them the opportunity to hide in bomb shelters. In Sderot, that opportunity only lasts ten seconds. “We ran into the shelter and waited for the attack to pass but, this time, it didn’t. It was a barrage of rockets, with short intervals between them. Then, we put on the news and saw all these reports coming in. It was nerve-wracking and we didn’t leave the shelter the entire day.” Lucky Michalowsky, who has been living in Israel for 37 years and who has seen multiple confrontations and wars, says the events of the past few days have been the most traumatic. He has witnessed burnt cars, damaged infrastructure, and direct hits by rockets. He speaks of sorrow, grief, and loss mixed with constant fear and concern. But, despite all of this damage and deep psychological trauma, he considers himself lucky. He and his wife are alive, unlike many of his friends, relatives, and neighbors. He says he personally knows people who were murdered at the hands of the Palestinian terrorists, who have waged one of the deadliest attacks since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Or Bar-Ilan has looked death in the eyes. She has been living in Kfar Gaza, a town located just one kilometer away from the border, since childhood. On Saturday, when terrorists stormed into the community, she managed to escape. Her parents did not. They were slaughtered in front of her younger brother, who survived by covering himself with the blood of his slain parents. According to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari, at least 900 civilians have been murdered by the militants of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad since Saturday morning, when scores of terrorists infiltrated the Israeli territories. Nearly 2,500 have been wounded and 130 people are believed to be held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Who’s to Blame? Looking at the growing death toll, Michalowsky, like many other Israelis, says he is furious with the “colossal intelligence failure that has surpassed the debacle of the 1973 war,” when Israel was taken by surprise by Egyptian and Syrian armies. “Who do I blame for this?” He asked, almost surprised. “I only blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The writing has been on the wall for a long time. He had the intelligence and the army telling him that the judicial reform he was promoting was bad for the country and that it was killing the IDF. But he chose not to listen and now it is coming back to haunt him.” Since coming back to power in December 2022, Netanyahu has been advancing a judicial reform that aimed at limiting the power of the Higher Court, a move that was considered by many liberal circles as potentially damaging to Israel’s democracy. The legislation has widened the split in Israeli society. Thousands have protested against it for forty consecutive weeks. Many have refused to serve in the reserves as a result, and experts were warning that this might crack the IDF and its ability to defend the state. Those warnings have now proved to be accurate, says Michalowsky, and he also believes that the situation will only continue to deteriorate. “I think there will be a real storm before things start getting better. We are probably heading towards a full fledged war, even though they [Hamas] hold God knows how many hostages, and this might complicate matters further,” he said, referring to the 130 civilians and soldiers believed to be held by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, something that allegedly bogs down a greater bombardment of the Strip. “But Israel is resilient. We will restore our strength and defeat the Arabs,” he concluded. Bar Ilan also thinks Israel will prevail in this war. Although still traumatized, she says she will not leave a place that she sees as her home, and promises “they will not break us.” Over the years, tens of thousands of rockets launched by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have landed in Israeli territories, causing significant damage to infrastructure and leading to multiple deaths and injuries. The attacks have intensified since 2007, after Hamas’ violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.
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After Hamas's massive attack, Israel has announced an unprecedented counterattack. Air strikes have been carried out on the Gaza Strip since Saturday. Meanwhile, the army is sending tanks and other equipment to the Gaza border.
Talking hasn't been an option for Israel for a long time. There has been radio silence since it withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and Hamas subsequently seized power in the area. Israel is therefore looking at what it can do militarily. But all options have major disadvantages. Actually there are two options, air strikes and a ground offensive. During air strikes, Israel can attack targets from great distances. But a big problem is that you don't know where civilians and hostage Israelis are. So you run a risk there. There is also a historical lesson. History shows that you can destroy a city, but if you want to break an opponent's will to fight, that doesn't work. E.g. the bombing of Hanoi in the Vietnam War and the bombing of Berlin in World War II. "In the end, you don't win a war with that. A land offensive could allow Israel to penetrate deeper into Hamas's power base. But such an offensive carries major risks for Israel. "You then have to conquer territory house by house, floor by floor, room by room. That is a very intensive form of fighting, which leads to great losses on both sides. Moreover, Israeli soldiers would then be fighting in Hamas territory; an area where Hamas is lord and master. The reference to an earlier war that Israel fought, in 2006 against the militant movement Hezbollah in Lebanon, is clear. There too, fighting took place at house level, resulting in many casualties on the Israeli side. It shows when you start such a war, you are choosing between two evils. Earlier, Israel hit back against Hamas, hard but in moderation. Israel then often used air power to eliminate targets. Now Israel will want to go further. Israel's goal will be to break the power of Hamas to carry out such large, coordinated actions against Israel. Whatever Israel decides to do, it will be very difficult. The fact that there are Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, also plays a role. If the Netanyahu government wants to get them all back, they will have to give something up too. That is the choice Israel must make now. A new warning Sunday that the Kremlin “is already and will likely continue to exploit the Hamas attacks on Israel” to hype its rhetoric against Western interference in Ukraine, demoralize Ukrainians and reassure Russians that the focus of the West on the Israeli crisis will deflect its attention from the war in Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Following Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7, the Kremlin primarily blamed the West for neglecting conflicts in the Middle East in favor of supporting Ukraine, and claimed that the international community will turn its attention to the Middle East crisis and will cease to focus on Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that the United States and its allies should be "busy" with work on a "Palestinian-Israeli settlement" and not "interfere" in Russia's affairs and provide military aid to Ukraine,the ISW reports. Prominent Russian propagandist Sergei Mardan and other Russian news bloggers aim to influence their audience and to demoralize Ukrainian listeners by stating that Russia will benefit from the escalation in Israel as the world “will take its mind off Ukraine for a while and get busy once again putting out the eternal fire in the Middle East,” ISW said. The group added that the Kremlin narrative that Ukraine will lose international support is intended to reassure Russian audiences that the international society will ignore Ukraine’s war effort. Reacting to the Hamas coordinated attacks against Israel Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded the world during his nightly video address — to stand firm against terror wherever it emerges. “Terror has opened too many fronts against humanity. The war against Ukraine. The war in the Middle East. Terrible destabilization in Africa. Constant attempts to provoke a crisis in the world food market. Being strong in such conditions means standing up to terror. It is not enough to be a great country. It is not enough to be a rich country. It is not enough to have ambitions. To be strong is to help protect people and lives from all forms of terror. And that is exactly what it is. To help,” he said. Zelenskyy held an emergency phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, about the situation in Israel and the actions of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies to repel the attack. He expressed Ukraine's solidarity with Israel and offered condolences over the numerous victims. Fighting raged in parts of Israel and the Gaza Strip early Sunday, one day after the Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a surprise large-scale attack against Israel.
Israeli retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday destroyed Hamas locations and several residential buildings. The Associated Press reports one airstrike flattened a 14-story tower that held dozens of apartments as well as Hamas offices in central Gaza City. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s offensive will continue "without reservation and without respite." Hamas kept up its strikes overnight too, firing rockets overnight at several cities, including Tel Aviv. Much of Gaza has been plunged into darkness since the attacks. Israel maintains a blockade around the territory and Netanyahu announced that Israel will cut the electricity, fuel and other goods it supplies to Gaza. Saturday’s coordinated attack from Hamas came as a complete surprise to Israeli intelligence. Israel "didn’t have an inkling of what was going on," Efraim Halevy, the former chief of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, told CNN. "We had no warning of any kind and it was a total surprise that the war broke out this morning." He said the attack was the first time the Palestinians had been able to “penetrate” so deeply into Israel. The militants launched over 3,000 missiles in less than 24 hours, according to Halevy. "This is beyond imagination from our point of view," Halvey told CNN. "We didn’t know they had this quantity of missiles and we certainly didn’t expect that they would be as effective as they were today. ... As an operation, it was highly successful, unfortunately." At least 250 Israelis were killed and more than 1,000 wounded after dozens of Palestinian militants infiltrated Israel from Gaza by land, sea and air. An unknown number of Israeli soldiers and civilians were seized and taken into Gaza, an enormously sensitive issue for Israel. Palestinian health officials said at least 200 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,600 wounded in Israel’s retaliatory strikes. Netanyahu vowed to avenge what he said was a "black day" for Israel, saying the army will strike back at Hamas in Gaza with full force. "The [Israeli Defense Force] is about to use all its force to destroy Hamas' capabilities," Netanyahu said in a brief televised statement. "We'll strike them to the bitter end and avenge with force this black day they brought on Israel and its people." U.S. President Joe Biden voiced "rock solid and unwavering" support for the U.S. ally and warned "against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation." Hamas and Israel have fought four wars since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting for Sunday to discuss the latest violence. As night fell Saturday, the Israeli army said its forces were engaged in live gun battles in many locations. "There are still 22 locations where we are engaging with terrorists that came into Israel, from the sea, from the land and from the air," said army spokesperson Richard Hecht on what he labelled a "robust ground invasion." The coordinated attack began around 6:30 a.m. local time with thousands of rockets aimed as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some slipping past Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and hitting buildings. Hamas fighters, using ground vehicles, motorized paragliders and boats, breached Gaza's security barrier and attacked nearby Israeli towns and military posts, opening fire on residents and passersby. Sigrid Kaag is a name that resonates with leadership, diplomacy, and remarkable accomplishments. Her life and career have been nothing short of inspiring, leaving a lasting impact on both national and international fronts. From her early days to her current role, Kaag's journey is a testament to dedication, resilience, and the pursuit of a better world.
Sigrid Kaag, a Dutch politician and diplomat, began her professional journey as a civil servant at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her innate talent and passion for diplomacy soon propelled her into the heart of international affairs. Kaag served in various crucial roles within the United Nations, including working on critical missions in the Middle East and leading the joint mission for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons. One of the defining moments of Kaag's career came during her tenure as the Special Coordinator of the Joint Mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations in Syria. Her exceptional leadership skills, determination, and unwavering commitment played a pivotal role in ensuring the safe and successful removal of chemical weapons from Syria, a task considered to be highly challenging and fraught with risks. Kaag's accomplishments in the international arena led to her return to Dutch politics. In 2017, she became a member of the House of Representatives for the Democrats 66 (D66) party. Her political acumen and ability to bridge divides were evident as she assumed the role of Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the Dutch government. As Minister, Kaag championed key issues such as sustainable development, gender equality, and fair trade. She initiated several programs to support entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development in developing countries, further cementing her commitment to fostering global progress and prosperity. Beyond her professional achievements, Sigrid Kaag embodies leadership qualities that inspire and motivate others. Her calm demeanor, intellectual acumen, and ability to engage in constructive dialogue have earned her respect from colleagues and counterparts alike. She has consistently demonstrated a steadfast commitment to promoting peace, understanding, and cooperation in an increasingly complex world. Sigrid Kaag's life and career serve as a reminder that true leadership is not only about achieving personal success but also about making a positive impact on society. Her dedication to diplomacy, humanitarianism, and sustainable development sets an example for aspiring leaders across the globe. By striving for excellence and embracing empathy, Kaag has shown that it is possible to effect meaningful change even in the face of formidable challenges. In conclusion, Sigrid Kaag's life story is one of extraordinary accomplishments and remarkable contributions. Her unwavering commitment to diplomacy, her exemplary leadership skills, and her relentless pursuit of a more just and equitable world make her a true role model. Sigrid Kaag's life serves as an inspiration to all those who aspire to create a positive impact and shape a better future through leadership and diplomacy. Iran is seeking to create a gas hub in cooperation with the country’s Eurasian trade partners, Oil Minister Javad Owji announced on Wednesday. The move is part of Tehran’s efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and enhance its position on the global energy market.
Iran is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the world, selling most of its energy to Asian markets despite the threat of US secondary sanctions. The new project is planned for the Asaluyeh region of the southern Bushehr province. “Having 33 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves and thanks to the cooperation of Turkmenistan, Russia and Qatar, we are trying to become a gas hub,” the minister told reporters, insisting that the conditions were in place to achieve that goal. The statement comes as Tehran has stepped up energy purchases from neighboring Turkmenistan, with the capacity to import between 40 and 50 million cubic meters of gas daily. Iran’s major gas fields are concentrated in the south, necessitating imports from its northern neighbor, particularly in the winter. Iran has also strengthened energy cooperation with Russia, which, according to Owji, could assist in the Islamic Republic’s energy hub ambitions. The two countries have joint investments in exploration and production, technology swap agreements, and a deal to jointly build oil pipelines from Iran to Oman and Pakistan. Last month, Tehran and Moscow sealed two major cooperation agreements and eight memorandums of understanding covering everything from energy and technology to the creation of a joint market. Some Arab leaders are ignoring Russia’s “illegal” conduct in Ukraine, President Vladimir Zelensky claimed at the Arab League summit on Friday. He made the statement while attending the gathering in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in person. Without mentioning any names, Zelensky remarked that some attendees “have a different view on the war on our land.” “Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here, among you, who turn a blind eye to [prisoner of war] cages and illegal annexations,” the president insisted. “I am here so that everyone can take an honest look. No matter how hard the Russians try to influence [others], there must still be independence.”
Unlike many Western countries, Arab states have refused to impose sanctions on Moscow over its military operation in the neighboring state. Oil-rich nations in the Persian Gulf worked with Moscow through OPEC+ to enact coordinated production cuts, prompting criticism from Washington, which is seeking to curtail Russia’s oil exports. peaking on Friday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Riyadh sees itself as a potential broker for peace. “We reaffirm the kingdom’s readiness to continue mediating efforts between Russia and Ukraine, and to support all international efforts aimed at resolving the crisis politically in a way that contributes to achieving security,” he said, as cited by Al Jazeera. Last year, Saudi Arabia and the UAE helped to negotiate a high-profile prisoner exchange between Kiev and Moscow. Bin Salman spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone last month. During the “friendly and constructive” conversation, the leaders agreed to bolster relations between the two countries, the Kremlin said. An Iranian football player was reported to face a death sentence for "campaigning for women's rights" in his country, as the FIFPRO World Players' Union on Tuesday asked Tehran to lift his penalty."FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women's rights and basic freedom in his country," the union said on Twitter.
"We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment," it added. FIFPRO is a global union for professional football players to defend their rights. Iran has been rocked by protests since mid-September after the custodial death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the country's morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code. The country has been dealing with protesters in a very hard way to deter them, punishing those who campaigned for women's rights and freedom. Nasr-Azadani, 26, is among them. Iran on Monday executed the second person convicted over the killing of two security personnel in the northeastern city of Mashhad in November amid months-long ongoing protests across the country. Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged in public in his hometown Mashhad in the wee hours of Monday on charges of "moharebeh" (waging war against God), judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency said. Last week, Iran executed Mohsen Shikari for "threatening citizens with a cold weapon and injuring a security guard" during protests in the Sattar Khan neighborhood of west Tehran. In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Iranian national team refused to sing their national anthem before their match against England to protest Amini's death. Iran were eliminated in the group stage in Qatar 2022 where they played against England, the US, and Wales. China and Saudi Arabia have discussed the creation of a free-trade zone between Beijing and the member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), Al-Arabiya reported on Friday, citing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We have discussed the creation of a free-trade zone between China and the countries of the Persian Gulf,” the crown prince announced, speaking at a Chinese-Arab summit that kicked off in Riyadh. The Gulf states and Beijing are also planning to cooperate on solving “problems of food and energy security,” and “...exploring the possibility of cooperation with China in the field of supply chains,” bin Salman added. China's President Xi Jinping arrived in the Saudi capital on Wednesday, holding separate talks with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the following day. He is attending the Sino-Arab summit that will reportedly bring together 30 leaders of Arab nations and organizations. China and Saudi Arabia have signed 12 agreements and memorandums of understanding on co-operation in hydrogen energy, judiciary, language education, housing, direct investment, broadcast media, digital economy, economic development, standardization, news coverage, tax administration, and anti-corruption. The United Arab Emirates’ Rashid Rover, the first Emirati mission to the moon surface, has been integrated onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for its historic launch on Wednesday. The four-wheel rover has undergone its final integration process with the launch vehicle - the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander – which will launch from a spaceport at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 12:39 pm UAE time. Residents across the UAE will be able to watch the launch online which will be streamed live by SpaceX. It marks the UAE’s first Moon mission, with more rovers to be developed in the future.
The Rashid rover - built by Emirati engineers from the UAE’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) - is to be sent to regions of the Moon unexplored by humans. As part of the Emirates Lunar Mission, the 10-kilogram robotic explorer will send back images and collect data on lunar soil and dust once it reaches the lunar surface. Over the last five months, the rover was exposed to a series of rigorous internal and external reviews. The reviews were designed to test out every one of the multitudes of systems and subsystems of the rover during the launch stage, cruise stage, and descent stage. At the beginning of the year, the ELM rover completed the assembly and first set of full functional tests of the flight model in the laboratories of MBRSC. This phase of testing included assessments of all the functionality of the hardware and software within all the possible on-surface (lunar) scenarios. This phase also included a heavy vibration test of the model at the EDGE’s Electro-Optics Centre of Excellence (EOCE) laboratories based in Abu Dhabi. In the second phase, the Rashid rover completed a series of environmental tests in Toulouse, France. This included two sections of the evaluation: The first was the final thermal and vacuum tests within the Airbus facility, in which the Rover was heated and cooled to simulate the pressures and temperatures of its journey through space and on the Moon’s surface. The second and last section of the environmental tests included rigorous vibration and shock checks of the flight model at the CNES Labs. For this, the rover was shaken on a vibration table simulating the environment the rover will encounter during the launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as well as be subjected to the same shocks it will experience decelerating in the lunar atmosphere, the intense impact of deployment and touchdown. The tests campaign concluded in Germany with the final phase of checks on the interfaces with the space lander that will safely deliver the rover to the Moon’s surface. This phase also included instrument alignment checks, such as imaging systems, and a final functional test of the integrated system following the environmental campaign. Dr. Hamad al-Marzooqi, Project Manager of the Emirates Lunar Mission, said earlier this year: “MBRSC can’t wait to see Rashid rover begin its long-awaited flight to the moon. The science and technology of this mission are going to help us address major questions about the geologic and surface science of the moon that we’ve been working on for years, and we’re excited to share our journey with the world.” The primary goal of the mission is to study the moon’s plasma and to provide answers about moon dust, the lunar surface, mobility on the moon’s surface, and how different surfaces interact with lunar particles. Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has been killed in a CIA drone strike in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, United States President Joe Biden has said. Al-Zawahiri was killed on Sunday in the biggest blow to the group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. “Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in a special televised address from outside the White House.
Intelligence had located al-Zawahiri’s family in Kabul earlier this year, Biden said, adding that no members of the family or civilians had been killed in the attack. An Egyptian surgeon with a $25m reward on his head, al-Zawahiri helped coordinate the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US that killed nearly 3,000 people. Earlier, US officials speaking on the condition of anonymity told reporters that the CIA carried out a drone attack in Kabul using two missiles. Al-Zawahiri was on his balcony at the time, they said. “It’s a significant blow,” Colin Clarke, research director at the Soufan Group, a global security firm, told Al Jazeera, adding that his presence in Kabul was also interesting in what it suggested about his relationship with the Taliban. “It tells us he’s gotten far more comfortable over the past year since the Taliban took over,” Clarke said. The Taliban confirmed the attack in Kabul, and condemned it as a “violation of international principles”. The strike was carried out on a residential house in the Sherpur area of Kabul, a diplomatic enclave where many Taliban leaders live now, Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement. “Such actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the US, Afghanistan and the region,” Mujahid said. In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul “grossly violated the Doha Agreement and repeated assurances to the world that they would not allow Afghan territory to be used by terrorists to threaten the security of other countries”. Washington and the Taliban signed the deal in 2020 paving the way for the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces in return for a guarantee from the Taliban not to allow groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) to operate on Afghan soil. The US forces withdrew just before an August 31 deadline in what turned out to be a chaotic exercise. Blinken said that by allowing the al-Qaeda leader to shelter in Afghanistan, the Taliban had also “betrayed” the Afghan people and “their own stated desire for recognition from and normalization with the international community”. Reporting from Kabul, Al Jazeera’s Ali Latifi said the drone strike took place in a “highly residential area of Kabul”. “It’s near a grocery store, near a bank, and a main street. It is an area where previous warlords, governors and ministers have lived under the previous government. It is not anywhere hidden,” he said. “That raises the question of how the current leader of al-Qaeda could walk into Kabul without the government knowing and that’s what the US is alluding to when they this is in violation of the Doha agreement”, he adding, noting that the Taliban also accused the US of violating the Doha deal. Scientists in the United Arab Emirates have looked at how off-grid rooftop PV could be combined with batteries, fuel cells or reversible solid oxide cells for energy storage. The modeling assumed a typical commercial building in Los Angeles. Researchers from Khalifa University in the United Arab Emirates have conducted a techno-economic analysis of a building energy system based on standalone rooftop PV linked to either lithium-ion batteries, proton-exchange membranes reversible fuel cells (PEM RFC), or reversible solid oxide cells (RSOC). They have found that each of the proposed configurations could result in low capital costs and high efficiency.
The scientists quantified the impact of the PEM RFC and RSOC on overall system degradation. Their modeling considered a typical medium-sized commercial building in Los Angeles, California. Its minimum value of electricity demand was 18.79 kW during the night, with a maximum demand of 178.30 kW in August. The rooftop solar array was assumed to have a capacity of 400 kW, with 310.15 W SPR-E19-310-COM solar modules with 19% efficiency from US manufacturer SunPower. The 250 kW RSOC system – equipped with an air preheater, water boiler, and high-performance heat exchangers – was assumed to have a power density of 0.312 W and an overall system efficiency of 43.99. The fuel cell has a capacity of 251.4 kW, a power density of 0.284 W, with a total system efficiency of 31.18%. The cost of the RFC was estimated at around $667/kW and that of the RSOC at $500/kW. The costs were based on a modeled 250 kW PEM stack cost and 250 kW RSOC stack cost, at 10,000 units per year. The battery is based on a nickel-manganese-cobalt cathode and graphite anode, and has a storage capacity of 400 kWh. It has a round-trip efficiency of 92.5% and a cost of $339/kW. Its lifetime is more than 5,000 cycles. The academics found that the PV system can achieve a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of $0.0237/kWh. The levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of the RFC, RSOC and the battery was $0.04173/kWh, $0.02818/kWh, and 0.02585/kWh, respectively. “The breakdown of the LCOS shows that capital cost accounts for more than 65% of the total LCOS, making it the most important component that needs more R&D to bring the capital cost down for these energy storage technologies,” they explained. They found that the LCOS increases and the discharge decrease depended on the lifetime of each of the three storage technologies they used. “The LCOS is sensitive to changes in capital costs, round-trip efficiency, lifetime, and discount rate; therefore, changes in these parameters should be carefully considered,” they warned, noting that lithium-ion batteries offer the most economical solution along with maximum efficiency, while also noting that RFCs and RSOCs can improve a standalone building's reliability and resiliency. The scientists presented their findings in “Techno-economic analysis of energy storage systems using reversible fuel cells and rechargeable batteries in green buildings,” which was recently published in Energy. A "No Fishing" sign on the edge of Iraq's western desert is one of the few clues that this was once Sawa Lake, a biodiverse wetland and recreational landmark. Human activity and climate change have combined to turn the site into a barren wasteland with piles of salt. Abandoned hotels and tourist facilities here hark back to the 1990s when the salt lake, circled by sandy banks, was in its heyday and popular with newly-weds and families who came to swim and picnic. But today, the lake near the city of Samawa, south of the capital Baghdad, is completely dry. Bottles litter its former banks and plastic bags dangle from sun-scorched shrubs, while two pontoons have been reduced to rust. "This year, for the first time, the lake has disappeared," environmental activist Husam Subhi said. "In previous years, the water area had decreased during the dry seasons." Today, on the sandy ground sprinkled with salt, only a pond remains where tiny fish swim, in a source that connects the lake to an underground water table. he five-square-kilometre (two-square-mile) lake has been drying up since 2014, says Youssef Jabbar, environmental department head of Muthana province. The causes have been "climate change and rising temperatures," he explained. "Muthana is a desert province, it suffers from drought and lack of rainfall." 1,000 illegal wells A government statement issued last week also pointed to "more than 1,000 wells illegally dug" for agriculture in the area. Additionally, nearby cement and salt factories have "drained significant amounts of water from the groundwater that feeds the lake", Jabbar said. It would take nothing short of a miracle to bring Sawa Lake back to life. Use of aquifers would have to be curbed and, following three years of drought, the area would now need several seasons of abundant rainfall, in a country hit by desertification and regarded as one of the five most vulnerable to climate change. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, a global treaty, recognised Sawa as "unique... because it is a closed water body in an area of sabkha (salt flat) with no inlet or outlet. "The lake is formed over limestone rock and is isolated by gypsum barriers surrounding the lake; its water chemistry is unique," says the convention's website. A stopover for migratory birds, the lake was once "home to several globally vulnerable species" such as the eastern imperial eagle, houbara bustard and marbled duck.
The 'strange' admission, according to the Zionist regime’s Supreme Court president, was made on a petition to disclose materials that detail facts about the massacre committed against Palestinian refugee in the Sabra and Shatila Camp about four decades ago.
A lawyer for the ‘Israeli’ entity’s Mossad spy agency told the Zionist regime’s so-called High Court of Justice on Monday that the agency is having difficulty locating historic documents in its archives relating to ties between the agency and Lebanese Christian militias that carried out massacres at two Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in September 1982. The Mossad lawyer, Omri Epstein, made the claim at a hearing on a petition filed by dozens of human rights advocates who have been seeking the disclosure of documents demonstrating Mossad’s links in the 1970s and 1980s to Lebanese Christian militias that committed the massacres at the Palestinian refugees’ camp. In comments to the Mossad’s claim, court president Esther Hayut, who heads the panel hearing the case, described it as “strange.”. At the hearing, Epstein alleged that the agency’s current ability to locate the documents “in the way in which they are stored, as well as the capability to locate documents for such an inclusive request spanning eight years, is limited and difficult.”. Hayut noted that the spy agency is legally required to preserve the documents, which are to be opened to the public after 90 years. “The assumption is that until the 90 years have elapsed, you need to preserve the material – so what does it mean that it’s difficult for you to locate them?” she asked. Epstein responded that behind closed doors and on an ex parte basis – meaning without the presence of the representatives of the human rights advocates – he would be able to explain at further length “how the material is maintained in the Mossad archives.”. In his petition, Eitay Mack, the lawyer representing the petitioners, alleged that about 40 years had so far elapsed “since the Mossad was responsible for ‘Israel’s’ support for murderous militias that committed atrocities in Lebanon. Nevertheless, the Mossad still believes that it is its right to conceal the information relating to them from the public.”. Mack said that the 1982 massacre “was just one of a series of massacres, executions, abductions, disappearances, dismemberment and abuse of bodies that the Christian militias carried out.” The nondisclosure of historic documents was the subject of another High Court case that was decided about two months ago, involving a request by researchers from the Taub Center for ‘Israel’ Studies at New York University to review documents in the archives related to the establishment of Zionist settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.
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