BlackMask Breaking News

Israel carried out part of its device attack targeting Hezbollah by concealing explosives inside the batteries of pagers brought into Lebanon, according to two high-ranking Lebanese security officials, who said the technology was so advanced that it was virtually undetectable. Lebanese security officials watched a series of controlled explosions of some of the weaponized pagers, as investigations into who manufactured the wireless communication devices and how they made their way into Hezbollah’s pockets continued. The pagers used in the controlled explosions were  ones that were switched off at the time of the attack on September 17, which meant they did not receive the message that caused the compromised devices to detonate.  Thousands of explosions struck Hezbollah members last week, targeting their pagers on Tuesday, and then walkie-talkies a day later. In all, the blasts killed at least 37 people, including some children, and injured nearly 3,000, according to Lebanese health authorities, many of them civilian bystanders. The attack blindsided the group, which had opted for analogue technologies after forgoing cell phones to avoid Israeli infiltration. One of the Lebanese security sources said the way in which the explosive material had been hidden inside the pagers’ batteries was so sophisticated that it could not be detected, but did not elaborate further as to what sort of checks the devices had gone through before entering the country. The second high-ranking security source said that he had examined one of the compromised pagers and witnessed its controlled explosion. He tsaid  that the explosive material was “laced” inside the pager’s lithium battery and virtually undetectable. He added that he had never seen anything like it. “It had to be done in such a way to make it invisible,” Moorhouse said, adding that one way to do that could have been modifying the battery itself – implanting an electronic detonator and small explosive charge inside of its metal casing, which would have made it impossible to detect with imaging, for example X-rays. “These attacks represent a new development in warfare, where communication tools become weapons, simultaneously exploding across marketplaces, on street corners, and in homes as daily life unfolds,” UN human rights chief Volker Türk told the Security Council last Friday. “Authorities have reportedly dismantled unexploded devices in universities, banks, and hospitals.”

Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile targeting a military site in Israel’s Tel Aviv, Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree(pictured) said in a statement on Friday. Additionally, Saree claimed that the rebel group launched a drone attack on Israel’s city of Ashkelon, ensuring that “the two operations achieved their goal successfully.” Houthis will continue attacking targets in Israel in support of the people of Gaza and Lebanon, and the strikes will not stop until “the Israeli aggression on Gaza and Lebanon” ends. NN: Does anyone with a brain beeline that  bullshit

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Friday that his country will intensify attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon until security in the northern Israeli towns is restored. “We have been hitting Hezbollah very hard over the last year and, in particular, over the last few weeks,” Gallant stated in a video message. “We will continue and increase this effort. We plan to bring security to the towns in the north and to safely return home” the people who evacuated, he added. Gallant’s comments come amid conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that started in October 2023, after Hamas attacked Israeli territory and triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, but intensified after mass explosions of communication devices used by Hezbollah members, largely attributed to Israel.

SHANGHAI -China’s central bank said on Friday it was lowering the borrowing cost of its seven-day reverse repurchase agreements, as part of the biggest stimulus package since the pandemic unveiled by Beijing this week to support the economy. The People’s Bank of China said the rate would be lowered by 20 basis points to 1.50% from 1.70% earlier, according to an online statement, taking effect from Friday. The rate cut decision aims to “further strengthen counter-cyclical adjustment of monetary policy and support stable growth of the economy”, the PBOC said. Borrowing costs of 14-day reverse repos, temporary repos and reverse repos would be adjusted by the same margin, it added. “Today’s 20-basis-point cut in 7-day open market operation reverse repo rate and the 50bp cut in reserve requirement ratio (RRR) represent implementation of the policies announced earlier,” said Frances Cheung, head of FX and rates strategy at OCBC Bank, referring to the RRR cut the PBOC announced on Friday morning. The PBOC last lowered the borrowing cost of the short-term liquidity tool by 10 basis points in July.

NN:  Chinese central bank has unleashed 1 of Chinas most Aggressive stimulus packager EVER. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared that millions of Israelis are running to shelters as sirens sound throughout central Israel, including Tel Aviv. The military said the air alarms were triggered due to a missile being fired from Yemen toward central Israel, adding that the rocket was successfully intercepted by the Arrow air defense system. In addition, the IDF clarified that the sound of explosions was the result of the “interception process and the interception fragments.” NN: It looks like a curse to me!

The OPEC+ alliance is not discussing any proposals of changes to its current oil production plan, which envisages the group starting to add supply to the market in December, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday. OPEC+ initially planned to begin unwinding part of the 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production cuts from October this year. However, after oil prices crashed in late August and early September, OPEC+ delayed the start of the unwinding of the cuts by two months until December 2024. According to Novak, Russia’s top oil official and representative at the OPEC+ meetings, the group, at present, isn’t looking to make any changes to its current production plan.

“All countries are generally fulfilling their obligations under the agreement. We are observing and monitoring the situation on the market in terms of the balance of supply and demand,” Russian news agency Interfax quoted Novak as saying on the sidelines of an energy conference in Russia. Earlier today, reports emerged that Saudi Arabia is determined to begin bringing back production as of December 1, as it now seeks to regain the market share it had lost over the past months with its large output cut. Saudi Arabia is willing to endure short-term oil price and revenue pain as it is making a U-turn in policy and going to take back market share and ditching its unofficial $100 oil price target, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, quoting sources with knowledge of the latest Saudi thinking. This latest thinking suggests that the Kingdom has come to accept that it would have to endure a period of lower oil prices if it wants to take market share back.

Gold rose to a fresh all-time high on Thursday as precious metals continued to record gains. The upward trend reflected wider market confidence as central banks started easing their tight monetary policy stances, coupled with a safe-haven appeal of precious metals in an uncertain geopolitical environment. Gold added 0.57% at 6:38 am ET, selling for $2,672.34 per ounce, while silver jumped 1.82% and went for $32.40 per ounce. Platinum surged 2.43% at 6:40 am ET, going for $1,015.62 per ounce and palladium grew by 1.70% and sold for $1,051.33 per ounce. NN: I can’t wait to short the shit out of this insanity.