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thorsenmark · 15 days
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Only Wanting Fresh Air (Indiana Dunes National Park)
flickr
Only Wanting Fresh Air (Indiana Dunes National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking along the shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park with a view looking to the northwest on an overcast afternoon. In composing this image, I decided to use some of the dunes nearby and create a more layered approach with the shoreline and then waves coming in across Lake Michigan.
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celtic-cd-releases · 1 month
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https://portagefiddle.com/
https://portage3.bandcamp.com/
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Drosscape
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a region of the United States, made up mostly of places in the Midwest and Great Lakes. Rust refers to the deindustrialization, or economic decline, population loss, and urban decay due to the shrinking of its once-powerful industrial sector. The term gained popularity in the U.S. in the 1980s.
The Rust Belt begins in western New York and traverses west through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, ending in northern Illinois, eastern Iowa, and southeastern Wisconsin. Previously known as the industrial heartland of America, industry has been declining in the region since the mid-20th century due to a variety of economic factors, such as the transfer of manufacturing further West, increased automation, and the decline of the US steel and coal industries. While some cities and towns have managed to adapt by shifting focus towards services and high-tech industries, others have not fared as well, witnessing rising poverty and declining populations.
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent wind erosion (the Aeolian processes) caused the phenomenon. The drought came in three waves, 1934, 1936, and 1939–1940, but some regions of the high plains experienced drought conditions for as many as eight years. With insufficient understanding of the ecology of the plains, farmers had conducted extensive deep plowing of the virgin topsoil of the Great Plains during the previous decade; this had displaced the native, deep-rooted grasses that normally trapped soil and moisture even during periods of drought and high winds. The rapid mechanization of farm equipment, especially small gasoline tractors, and widespread use of the combine harvester contributed to farmers' decisions to convert arid grassland (much of which received no more than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation per year) to cultivated cropland.
During the drought of the 1930s, the unanchored soil turned to dust, which the prevailing winds blew away in huge clouds that sometimes blackened the sky. These choking billows of dust – named "black blizzards" or "black rollers" – traveled cross country, reaching as far as the East Coast and striking such cities as New York City and Washington, D.C. On the Plains, they often reduced visibility to 1 meter (3.3 ft) or less.
Drosscape
Drosscape is an urban design framework that looks at urbanized regions as the waste product of defunct economic and industrial processes. The concept was realized by Alan Berger, professor of urban design at MIT, and is part of a new vocabulary and aesthetic that could be useful for the redesign and adaptive re-use of ‘waste landscapes’ within urbanized regions.
According to Berger, drosscape, as a concept, implies that dross, or waste, may be "scaped", or resurfaced, and reprogrammed for adaptive reuse. Berger goes on to explain that this phenomenon emerges from two primary processes. Firstly, Drosscape surfaces as a byproduct of rapid urbanization and horizontal growth urban sprawl. Secondly, these spaces arise as a consequence of defunct economic and production systems. For urban planners, architects and other design professionals, drosscape may offer another creative way to envision space and landscape design in a city. According to Berger, “Adaptively reusing this waste landscape figures to be one of the twenty-first century’s great infrastructural design challenges.”
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nextstepelectric · 4 years
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home electrician near me Arnprior Ontario
Contents
Group refers collectively
Open conccept design
Hill ontario elder care
Top 10 electricians
Bergey excel 1
The Minto Group is a fully integrated real estate company offering new homes and condos, apartment rentals, furnished suites, commercial space, property and investment management. The Minto group refers collectively to Minto Inc. and its affiliated companies.
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Four hours earlier, I’d pushed away from the Thanksgiving dinner table (“No pumpkin pie for me. Lake Ontario. Currents in the Lower Niagara have been clocked at 25 miles per hour in the Whirlpool.
‘It kept turning and charging at us again’: Women survive bear encounter in Northern Ontario – “It could have been worse,” she says, while standing outside her secluded home near Long Lake on Tuesday. which has earned its reputation as Ontario’s black bear capital for a reason. Normally,
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New world news from Time: Amid U.S. Impeachment Inquiry, Ukraine Left Feeling ‘Abandoned’
Ukraine is at the center of today’s east-west geopolitical battle, but it’s feeling increasingly alone and abandoned by its U.S. backers amid the impeachment drama unfolding in Washington.
The U.S. ambassador — who was pushed out earlier this year and testified Friday in Congress — hasn’t been replaced. Neither has the influential U.S. envoy tasked with helping Ukraine quell its Russia-backed separatist insurgency. The lower-level U.S. officials remaining in Kyiv are keeping an unusually low profile.
The erosion of Washington’s readiness to protect its Eastern European ally leaves Ukraine vulnerable to mounting Russian pressure, just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky heads into high-stakes talks next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Read more: Trump Ignored Consensus U.S. Intelligence Report in Pressuring Ukraine
Ukrainians increasingly feel the U.S. impeachment inquiry is making their country toxic.
A member of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee told The Associated Press that U.S. officials have shown increasing indifference to Ukraine and have been reluctant to attend meetings.
This has been particularly visible, the lawmaker said, since the September resignation of envoy Kurt Volker, whose departure led to the disappearance of a coordination center made up of people who were engaged in Ukraine’s affairs.
The lawmaker discussed the sensitive issue of U.S. aid on condition that his name be withheld. Ukrainian government officials refuse to talk about relations with the U.S. while the impeachment inquiry is ongoing, and influential lawmakers are similarly wary of saying anything publicly that could make matters even worse for their country.
Moscow is happy to fill the void, further bolstering Russia’s position along Europe’s geopolitical front line, with consequences around the region. The mixed messages to Ukraine from President Donald Trump’s administration are also damaging U.S. diplomatic credibility at a time when American foreign policy influence is already waning.
“Trump’s policy toward Ukraine looks badly incoherent and inconsistent,” said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, the head of military programs at the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based independent think-tank. “It’s like a swing, and Kyiv has found it difficult to adapt to that.”
In a July 25 phone call that triggered the impeachment inquiry, Trump pushed Ukraine’s newly-elected Zelensky to investigate the country’s activities in the 2016 U.S. election and his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden, while the Trump administration was withholding about $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.
Democrats say that Trump was engaged in “bribery” and “extortion,” abusing his office for personal political gain. The president denies wrongdoing. The military aid was ultimately released in September after Congress was informed of the phone call.
U.S. military aid makes up about 10 percent of Ukraine’s defense budget, according to Sunhurovskyi. He said the American aid is necessary to shore up the underfunded and badly equipped Ukrainian army, but is even more crucial as an indication of Washington’s determination to stand firmly behind its ally.
“The U.S. military aid is an important political signal indicating that Ukraine is a victim and Russia is an aggressor,” Sunhurovskyi said.”
President Barack Obama’s administration provided Ukraine with nonlethal military supplies, including countermortar radars, night-vision devices and medical items. The Trump administration in 2017 agreed to provide lethal weapons, committing to sell $47 million in Javelin anti-tank missiles.
The U.S. handed over two repurposed patrol boats Wednesday to Ukraine’s navy, part of over $1.6 billion in U.S. security assistance since 2014. Speaking at the ceremony, U.S. envoy Joseph Pennington pledged continued U.S. support.
It was one of the rare high-visibility American appearances in Ukraine in recent weeks.
While American business people remain ubiquitous in Kyiv, arriving daily on flights to Boryspol Airport and filling lobbies of the city’s high-end hotels, U.S. officials appear to be lying low, notably those visiting from Washington. When Assistant Secretary of State Denise Natali visited last month, none of her schedule was made public and media had no access.
Volker, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine peace negotiations, used to regularly visit Kyiv, maintained close contacts with the European Union nations to coordinate their support for Ukraine and met with his Russian counterpart to defend Ukraine’s interests. The Trump administration hasn’t named a replacement since he resigned.
Trump himself encouraged Zelensky to meet with Putin and “solve your problem.”
“Trump’s hesitations and the absence of a clear U.S. strategy forces Kyiv to make concessions to Russia,” said Vadim Karasev, head of the Kyiv-based Institute of Global Strategies.
That’s worries many in Ukraine, especially ahead of Zelensky’s long-awaited meeting with Putin and the leaders of France and Germany on Dec. 9.
After Ukraine’s former Moscow-friendly president was driven from office by massive protests in 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and helped foment a separatist insurgency in the east. More than five years of fighting has killed over 13,000 and ravaged the country’s industrial heartland. The U.S. and the EU responded by hitting Russia with a slew of sanctions that hampered Russia-EU trade.
European nations also provide Ukraine significant aid, but Ukraine fears their support is slipping too. Some EU nations have pushed for lifting sanctions against Moscow, and French President Emmanuel Macron recently called for reaching out to Russia.
Lawmaker Iryna Gerashchenko said that could herald pressure on Ukraine to agree to a deal on Russian terms.
“The U.S. military assistance cemented the Western position,” Karasev said. “Any doubts, suspensions or delays will cause the Western coalition to collapse and allow Paris and Berlin to play their game and make a deal with Russia. Once the U.S. role in Europe weakens, Russia’s influence inevitably grows — it’s a historic pendulum that Trump has already set in motion.”
___
Karmanau reported from Minsk, Belarus. Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
from Blogger https://ift.tt/32M84c4 via IFTTT
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googlenewson · 4 years
Link
Ukraine is at the center of today’s east-west geopolitical battle, but it’s feeling increasingly alone and abandoned by its U.S. backers amid the impeachment drama unfolding in Washington.
The U.S. ambassador — who was pushed out earlier this year and testified Friday in Congress — hasn’t been replaced. Neither has the influential U.S. envoy tasked with helping Ukraine quell its Russia-backed separatist insurgency. The lower-level U.S. officials remaining in Kyiv are keeping an unusually low profile.
The erosion of Washington’s readiness to protect its Eastern European ally leaves Ukraine vulnerable to mounting Russian pressure, just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky heads into high-stakes talks next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Read more: Trump Ignored Consensus U.S. Intelligence Report in Pressuring Ukraine
Ukrainians increasingly feel the U.S. impeachment inquiry is making their country toxic.
A member of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee told The Associated Press that U.S. officials have shown increasing indifference to Ukraine and have been reluctant to attend meetings.
This has been particularly visible, the lawmaker said, since the September resignation of envoy Kurt Volker, whose departure led to the disappearance of a coordination center made up of people who were engaged in Ukraine’s affairs.
The lawmaker discussed the sensitive issue of U.S. aid on condition that his name be withheld. Ukrainian government officials refuse to talk about relations with the U.S. while the impeachment inquiry is ongoing, and influential lawmakers are similarly wary of saying anything publicly that could make matters even worse for their country.
Moscow is happy to fill the void, further bolstering Russia’s position along Europe’s geopolitical front line, with consequences around the region. The mixed messages to Ukraine from President Donald Trump’s administration are also damaging U.S. diplomatic credibility at a time when American foreign policy influence is already waning.
“Trump’s policy toward Ukraine looks badly incoherent and inconsistent,” said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, the head of military programs at the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based independent think-tank. “It’s like a swing, and Kyiv has found it difficult to adapt to that.”
In a July 25 phone call that triggered the impeachment inquiry, Trump pushed Ukraine’s newly-elected Zelensky to investigate the country’s activities in the 2016 U.S. election and his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden, while the Trump administration was withholding about $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.
Democrats say that Trump was engaged in “bribery” and “extortion,” abusing his office for personal political gain. The president denies wrongdoing. The military aid was ultimately released in September after Congress was informed of the phone call.
U.S. military aid makes up about 10 percent of Ukraine’s defense budget, according to Sunhurovskyi. He said the American aid is necessary to shore up the underfunded and badly equipped Ukrainian army, but is even more crucial as an indication of Washington’s determination to stand firmly behind its ally.
“The U.S. military aid is an important political signal indicating that Ukraine is a victim and Russia is an aggressor,” Sunhurovskyi said.”
President Barack Obama’s administration provided Ukraine with nonlethal military supplies, including countermortar radars, night-vision devices and medical items. The Trump administration in 2017 agreed to provide lethal weapons, committing to sell $47 million in Javelin anti-tank missiles.
The U.S. handed over two repurposed patrol boats Wednesday to Ukraine’s navy, part of over $1.6 billion in U.S. security assistance since 2014. Speaking at the ceremony, U.S. envoy Joseph Pennington pledged continued U.S. support.
It was one of the rare high-visibility American appearances in Ukraine in recent weeks.
While American business people remain ubiquitous in Kyiv, arriving daily on flights to Boryspol Airport and filling lobbies of the city’s high-end hotels, U.S. officials appear to be lying low, notably those visiting from Washington. When Assistant Secretary of State Denise Natali visited last month, none of her schedule was made public and media had no access.
Volker, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine peace negotiations, used to regularly visit Kyiv, maintained close contacts with the European Union nations to coordinate their support for Ukraine and met with his Russian counterpart to defend Ukraine’s interests. The Trump administration hasn’t named a replacement since he resigned.
Trump himself encouraged Zelensky to meet with Putin and “solve your problem.”
“Trump’s hesitations and the absence of a clear U.S. strategy forces Kyiv to make concessions to Russia,” said Vadim Karasev, head of the Kyiv-based Institute of Global Strategies.
That’s worries many in Ukraine, especially ahead of Zelensky’s long-awaited meeting with Putin and the leaders of France and Germany on Dec. 9.
After Ukraine’s former Moscow-friendly president was driven from office by massive protests in 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and helped foment a separatist insurgency in the east. More than five years of fighting has killed over 13,000 and ravaged the country’s industrial heartland. The U.S. and the EU responded by hitting Russia with a slew of sanctions that hampered Russia-EU trade.
European nations also provide Ukraine significant aid, but Ukraine fears their support is slipping too. Some EU nations have pushed for lifting sanctions against Moscow, and French President Emmanuel Macron recently called for reaching out to Russia.
Lawmaker Iryna Gerashchenko said that could herald pressure on Ukraine to agree to a deal on Russian terms.
“The U.S. military assistance cemented the Western position,” Karasev said. “Any doubts, suspensions or delays will cause the Western coalition to collapse and allow Paris and Berlin to play their game and make a deal with Russia. Once the U.S. role in Europe weakens, Russia’s influence inevitably grows — it’s a historic pendulum that Trump has already set in motion.”
___
Karmanau reported from Minsk, Belarus. Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
from World – TIME https://ift.tt/341YLq5
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thorsenmark · 3 months
Video
A Distant View of Chicago from Indiana Dunes National Park
flickr
A Distant View of Chicago from Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the northwest while taking in a view across the blue waters of Lake Michigan with the skyline of Chicago off in the distance. This was while walking along the Dune Succession Trail in Indiana Dunes National Park.
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newstechreviews · 4 years
Link
Ukraine is at the center of today’s east-west geopolitical battle, but it’s feeling increasingly alone and abandoned by its U.S. backers amid the impeachment drama unfolding in Washington.
The U.S. ambassador — who was pushed out earlier this year and testified Friday in Congress — hasn’t been replaced. Neither has the influential U.S. envoy tasked with helping Ukraine quell its Russia-backed separatist insurgency. The lower-level U.S. officials remaining in Kyiv are keeping an unusually low profile.
The erosion of Washington’s readiness to protect its Eastern European ally leaves Ukraine vulnerable to mounting Russian pressure, just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky heads into high-stakes talks next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Read more: Trump Ignored Consensus U.S. Intelligence Report in Pressuring Ukraine
Ukrainians increasingly feel the U.S. impeachment inquiry is making their country toxic.
A member of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee told The Associated Press that U.S. officials have shown increasing indifference to Ukraine and have been reluctant to attend meetings.
This has been particularly visible, the lawmaker said, since the September resignation of envoy Kurt Volker, whose departure led to the disappearance of a coordination center made up of people who were engaged in Ukraine’s affairs.
The lawmaker discussed the sensitive issue of U.S. aid on condition that his name be withheld. Ukrainian government officials refuse to talk about relations with the U.S. while the impeachment inquiry is ongoing, and influential lawmakers are similarly wary of saying anything publicly that could make matters even worse for their country.
Moscow is happy to fill the void, further bolstering Russia’s position along Europe’s geopolitical front line, with consequences around the region. The mixed messages to Ukraine from President Donald Trump’s administration are also damaging U.S. diplomatic credibility at a time when American foreign policy influence is already waning.
“Trump’s policy toward Ukraine looks badly incoherent and inconsistent,” said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, the head of military programs at the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv-based independent think-tank. “It’s like a swing, and Kyiv has found it difficult to adapt to that.”
In a July 25 phone call that triggered the impeachment inquiry, Trump pushed Ukraine’s newly-elected Zelensky to investigate the country’s activities in the 2016 U.S. election and his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden, while the Trump administration was withholding about $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.
Democrats say that Trump was engaged in “bribery” and “extortion,” abusing his office for personal political gain. The president denies wrongdoing. The military aid was ultimately released in September after Congress was informed of the phone call.
U.S. military aid makes up about 10 percent of Ukraine’s defense budget, according to Sunhurovskyi. He said the American aid is necessary to shore up the underfunded and badly equipped Ukrainian army, but is even more crucial as an indication of Washington’s determination to stand firmly behind its ally.
“The U.S. military aid is an important political signal indicating that Ukraine is a victim and Russia is an aggressor,” Sunhurovskyi said.”
President Barack Obama’s administration provided Ukraine with nonlethal military supplies, including countermortar radars, night-vision devices and medical items. The Trump administration in 2017 agreed to provide lethal weapons, committing to sell $47 million in Javelin anti-tank missiles.
The U.S. handed over two repurposed patrol boats Wednesday to Ukraine’s navy, part of over $1.6 billion in U.S. security assistance since 2014. Speaking at the ceremony, U.S. envoy Joseph Pennington pledged continued U.S. support.
It was one of the rare high-visibility American appearances in Ukraine in recent weeks.
While American business people remain ubiquitous in Kyiv, arriving daily on flights to Boryspol Airport and filling lobbies of the city’s high-end hotels, U.S. officials appear to be lying low, notably those visiting from Washington. When Assistant Secretary of State Denise Natali visited last month, none of her schedule was made public and media had no access.
Volker, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine peace negotiations, used to regularly visit Kyiv, maintained close contacts with the European Union nations to coordinate their support for Ukraine and met with his Russian counterpart to defend Ukraine’s interests. The Trump administration hasn’t named a replacement since he resigned.
Trump himself encouraged Zelensky to meet with Putin and “solve your problem.”
“Trump’s hesitations and the absence of a clear U.S. strategy forces Kyiv to make concessions to Russia,” said Vadim Karasev, head of the Kyiv-based Institute of Global Strategies.
That’s worries many in Ukraine, especially ahead of Zelensky’s long-awaited meeting with Putin and the leaders of France and Germany on Dec. 9.
After Ukraine’s former Moscow-friendly president was driven from office by massive protests in 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and helped foment a separatist insurgency in the east. More than five years of fighting has killed over 13,000 and ravaged the country’s industrial heartland. The U.S. and the EU responded by hitting Russia with a slew of sanctions that hampered Russia-EU trade.
European nations also provide Ukraine significant aid, but Ukraine fears their support is slipping too. Some EU nations have pushed for lifting sanctions against Moscow, and French President Emmanuel Macron recently called for reaching out to Russia.
Lawmaker Iryna Gerashchenko said that could herald pressure on Ukraine to agree to a deal on Russian terms.
“The U.S. military assistance cemented the Western position,” Karasev said. “Any doubts, suspensions or delays will cause the Western coalition to collapse and allow Paris and Berlin to play their game and make a deal with Russia. Once the U.S. role in Europe weakens, Russia’s influence inevitably grows — it’s a historic pendulum that Trump has already set in motion.”
___
Karmanau reported from Minsk, Belarus. Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
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marketsandyou · 7 years
Photo
Tumblr media
Asian Equities Edged Higher
Asian equities edged higher today. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent. Australian shares added 0.35 percent and South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.25 percent. Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.4 percent.
The dollar's recent advance slowed as rate hike expectations were dented. The greenback was up 0.15 percent at 110.130 yen having gone as high as 110.675 overnight, its strongest in two weeks. The euro was steady at $1.1909 after plumbing a one-week low of $1.1823 overnight.
In commodities, crude oil prices stood tall after rallying overnight as traders scrambled to reroute millions of barrels of fuel with almost a quarter of U.S. refining capacity remaining offline. 
Hurricane Harvey, which brought record flooding to the U.S. oil heartland of Texas, has shut down at least 4.4 million barrels per day of refining capacity, according to company reports.
U.S. crude was slightly lower at $47.01 per barrel after surging 2.8 percent overnight. Gold hovered near a 9-1/2-month high, supported as the dollar came off its recent highs and by lingering concerns over tensions in the Korean Peninsula. 
Spot gold was steady at $1,321.10 an ounce after gaining 1 percent overnight. The precious metal was on track to gain 2.4 percent this week, during which it touched $1,325.93 an ounce on Tuesday, its highest since early November.
Economists expect U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 180,000 jobs in August after surging 209,000 in July and average hourly earnings to have increased 0.2 percent after rising 0.3 percent in July.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was a shade lower at 92.629.The index slipped about 0.2 percent on Thursday and was poised to end 0.1 percent lower on the week in which it hit a 2-1/2-year low of 91.621 on geopolitical tensions before bouncing back.
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wionews · 7 years
Text
Egypt: At least 23 soldiers killed in deadliest Sinai attack in years
At least 23 Egyptian soldiers were killed when two suicide car bombs tore through military checkpoints in North Sinai province on Friday, security sources said, in one of the bloodiest coordinated assaults on security forces in years.
Islamic State militants are waging an insurgency in the rugged, thinly populated Sinai Peninsula. They have killed hundreds of soldiers and police since 2013, when the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi after mass protests against his rule.
The two cars blew up as they passed through two checkpoints outside of a military compound just south of Rafah, on the border with the Gaza Strip, the security sources said. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The security sources said another 26 soldiers were injured in Friday's attacks. The military put the casualties lower, saying the attacks had killed and injured a total of 26 soldiers, without providing a breakdown of the figure.
The attack is the most severe in Sinai since at least July 2015, when Islamic State militants assaulted simultaneously a slew of checkpoints and military sites around North Sinai. At least 17 soldiers were killed, according to an official tally.
Friday's bombings present a challenge for general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who describes Islamist militancy as an existential threat and himself as a bulwark against extremism in a region beset by violence and war.
Counter-strike
Security sources described Friday's attack as a coordinated strike, with car bombs blowing apart checkpoints as gunmen in four-wheel drive vehicles shot down soldiers running for cover.
Militants in armoured vehicles meanwhile fired rocket-propelled grenades at a military site just beyond the checkpoint, the sources said.
The military carried out a counter-attack almost immediately after, deploying fighter jets to kill over 40 militants suspected of involvement and destroying six of their vehicles, according to a video released by the military showing aerial footage of air strikes.
The military posted photos of five dead militants in blood-soaked fatigues lying in the sand. It did not name their affiliation.
"Law enforcement forces in North Sinai succeeded in thwarting a terrorist attack on some checkpoints south of Rafah," a military statement said.
The bloody assault comes as militant attacks have increasingly shifted beyond the Sinai deep into Egypt's heartland, often targeting minority Coptic Christians.
Separately on Friday, a homeland security officer was shot dead outside his home in Qalubiya, a province just north of Cairo, while on his way to Friday prayers, an Interior Ministry statement said.
That attack was later claimed by the Hasam Movement, a militant group that has claimed several attacks around Cairo targeting judges and policemen since last year.
Responding to the Sinai attack, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail stressed the need for countries to unite against those who support terrorism and to "dry up their sources of funding," an allusion to Qatar.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain broke diplomatic relations with Qatar last month and are now boycotting the Gulf Arab state, which they accuse of supporting terrorism and allying with regional foe Iran. Qatar denies this.
]]>
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thorsenmark · 1 month
Video
A Morning Stroll Along the Shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park
flickr
A Morning Stroll Along the Shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the west while taking in views and walking along the shoreline of Lake Michigan in the Mount Baldy area of Indiana Dunes National Park.
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thorsenmark · 2 months
Video
Letting Nature Pamper Me with Snapshots of Indiana Dunes National Park
flickr
Letting Nature Pamper Me with Snapshots of Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the West Beach Trail with a view looking to the southeast across the waters of Long Lake in this part of Indiana Dunes National Park. My thinking in composing this image was to simply have the swan on the lake waters more or less centered but also have a sweeping view across that by angling my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward. That would bring up the horizon and help minimize what I felt was the negative space of the overcast skies. The distant horizon with the trees and forest would then be in the upper portion of the image and add a contrast to the lake waters.
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thorsenmark · 5 months
Video
Make Time (Indiana Dunes National Park)
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Make Time (Indiana Dunes National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A look back to the west-northwest across the waves and waters of Lake Michigan as they were rushing to the shore in this part of Indiana Dunes National Park. I was heading off to start the walk along the Dune Succession Trail. Hearing the rushing waters with the wind blowing was a definite draw, and what I wanted to capture with this image. For post-production, I then decided to once again try out the sky replacement setting in Photoshop with this image. The sunset colors with the clouds definitely seemed appropriate for this national park setting in what I had wanted to experience in person. So the skies are part of the Adobe stock images in Photoshop but all else is captured with my Nikon D850 SLR camera. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.
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thorsenmark · 3 months
Video
Buildings from Long Ago of the Bailly Homestead in Indiana Dunes National Park
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Buildings from Long Ago of the Bailly Homestead in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking around the historic Bailly Homestead and taking in view of these buildings and living quarters. The view is looking to the east while walking the Bailly Homestead - Chellberg Farm Trail in Indiana Dunes National Park.
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