ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks at the roundtable in The Hague on 8 Oct. This is the same lawyer who prosecuted Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes. (Photo: RFE/RL)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is entitled to try cases of the alleged execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
According to the latest data published by the Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General’s Office, investigators have so far obtained information on the execution of 93 Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russian military.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine presented a report in March about the execution of at least 32 Ukrainian POWs in 12 separate cases between Dec 2023 and Feb 2024.
In Mar 2023, the ICC’s pretrial chamber issued warrants for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, charging them with the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia — a war crime under international legislation.
Meanwhile, Former US Marine Trevor Reed has been sentenced in absentia by a Russian court to 14 1/2 years in prison, on charges he joined the Ukrainian Army as a mercenary.
Trevor Reed vaulted into the news in 2020 when he was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison on an assault charge he denied. (AFP File photo)
The Russian Investigative Committee said on October 9 that Reed enlisted with Ukrainian forces in May 2023 and participated in combat operations in the Donetsk region.
Reed’s participation in the war became public in Jul 2023 when he was injured by a mine explosion while fighting for Ukraine. He had been transferred to Germany for medical care.
In April 2022, Reed, who by then had served nearly three years in a Russian prison, was exchanged for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been serving a 20-year sentence in the US for drug trafficking.
Reed’s conviction in absentia comes days after two other Americans were convicted and sentenced by Russian courts.
Stephen Hubbard (72) was sentenced by the Moscow City Court on 7 Oct to six years and 10 months in prison on charges of being a mercenary and fighting against Russia in Ukraine.
Robert Gilman (30), another former US Marine, was sentenced to seven years and one month in prison for assaulting a prison official and a state investigator.
Both cases follow a pattern of high-profile arrests and detentions of Americans in Russia, which are part of Moscow’s broader strategy to exert pressure on Washington and use these AMCITs for future prisoner swaps.
Sources:
https://www.rferl.org/a/icc-war-crimes-russia-ukraine-executions/33152240.html
https://www.rferl.org/a/trevor-reed-marine-ukraine-trial-ansentia-russia-sentence/33152282.html
US Issues Solar Storm Watch After Large Outburst From Sun
An image released by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a solar flare, the bright flash in the center of the image, on 3 Oct Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory/NASA, via AP
Periodically, the sun spews out gigantic eruptions of particles into the solar system. Sometimes, when the solar eruptions are aimed right at Earth, the particles may create brilliant auroras in night skies in many parts of the planet. Then there are other occasions when the battering can damage satellites, mangle GPS signals and knock out power grids.
On Wednesday, a federal center issued a space weather severe storm watch after sun-watching spacecraft observed a large solar flare emanating from a sunspot in the sun’s northern hemisphere, accompanied by an explosion of particles known as a coronal mass ejection.
The charged particles from the latest event — protons, electrons and helium nuclei — are speeding at more than 2.5 million miles per hour and are expected to start slamming into the Earth’s magnetic field on Thursday morning Eastern time.
But the geomagnetic storm could last about 36 hours. If the storm reaches the severe level, the auroras in the Northern Hemisphere could stretch down into the middle of the US, potentially as far south as Alabama.
On top of the terrestrial super-storms wracking the American south, now comes an extra-terrestrial storm that may hamper the communications network during recovery operations.
Sources:
The New York Times and NASA
Israeli Forces Demolish Homes in the Occupied West Bank
Israeli forces demolished two homes under construction in a town west of Salfit, in the central occupied West Bank.
Local sources told the Wafa news agency that military bulldozers demolished the two houses in az-Zawiya, which belonged to local Palestinians.
The agency also reported Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at Palestinian civilians at the Hamra military checkpoint, in the northern Jordan Valley, while a mosque in Khirbet Tana was attacked by settlers.
Settlers entered and vandalized the mosque and smashed solar panels that generated electricity for it.
The cartoonist, Amos Biderman, explained in an interview with The Times of Israel that he meant to suggest that Mr. Netanyahu’s “arrogance” and policies on settlement construction in the West Bank had provoked “a disaster in Israel-US relations on the scale of 9/11.”
Sources:
https://yalibnan.com 10/31/2014
Ohio MAGA Militant Pleads Guilty to Felony Charges for Attacking US Capitol on 6 Jan
Dustin Martin (30) of Grove City, OH, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of civil disorder and a misdemeanor charge of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds before US District Judge Loren L. AliKhan. Judge AliKhan will sentence Martin on 7 Feb 2025.
The FBI arrested Martin on 21 June 2023, in Ohio.
His accomplice, Cody Lee Tippet, was previously sentenced to 30 days in prison for his seditious role on 6 Jan 2021.
These two young men threw their lives away with these federal felony convictions over a misguided belief of white supremacy and the hateful lies of Donald J. Trump.
n the 45 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,532 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 571 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Source:
Ukrainian Missile Attack Kills Six North Korean Officers Near Donetsk
You wonder if any of the six North Korean officers were any of these lickspittles surrounding Kim Jong-Un. Photo: Reuters
Six North Korean military officers were among about 20 military personnel killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on Russian-occupied territory near the city of Donetsk. Three North Korean servicemen were also wounded.
The DPRK officers were reportedly visiting the front lines as part of an ‘exchange of experience’ program.
That’s some experience they received!
The attack came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky accused North Korea of providing weapons to Russia.
Ukrainian intelligence officials said last year that North Korean military personnel, including engineers, were operating in Russian-occupied territory. Russia was planning to mobilize North Korean laborers for various construction projects in occupied Ukrainian territory.
And speaking of experience, for which battles, campaigns, or wars did these above North Korean generals earn all of these impressive-looking awards? North Korea hasn’t been at war since 1953.
America’s part-time Soldiers (Army National Guardsmen, Army and USMC Reservists) have more combat experience than these bloated uniformed popinjays.
Nota Bene: During the Vietnam War, South Korean soldiers fought Viet Cong guerrillas and the NVA; the ROK also deployed forces to Iraq in the early 2000s.
Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/ukraine-russia-missile-attack-10062024234530.html
Japanese Encephalitis Cases Reported in Taiwan, Nepal
The mosquito species _Culex tritaeniorhynchus_ and other related _Culex_ species are efficient vectors of the JE virus and breed in wet areas such as rice paddies. Vector control is difficult because potential breeding sites are extensive.
In Nepal, 63 people have been infected with the mosquito-borne zoonotic viral disease since June 2024. As of 22 Sep 2024, 17 people, including children, have died from JE infections this year.
This JE outbreak has been detected in 29 Nepal districts, including those in the Kathmandu Valley, which is located at 5,000 feet, where virus-carrying mosquitoes are found.
Nepal’s health department estimates that about 12 million people, out of a total population of 31 million, are at risk of JE in 2024. Additionally, many of the one million visitors to Nepal this year may need protection from JE.
Taiwan health authorities announced the 3rd Japanese encephalitis case this year.
Health officials say the man started showing symptoms on 24 Sep 2024 and was hospitalized 1 Oct 2024.
Officials suspect a pigsty within two kms of his workplace as the origin of the mosquitos.
Authorities have taken measures to eradicate the contagious disease-carrying mosquitoes, which breed in places like rice paddies and ponds. Pigs play an essential role in the life cycle and serve as an amplifier host without suffering from the disease. They maintain prolonged high-level viremia, which allows mosquitoes to get infected easily.
The only measures to prevent JE infection are vaccination and avoidance of mosquito bites.
While there are very few local JEV cases in the US, the CDC cautions the millions of Californians who travel west to Asia and Pacific Ocean countries to protect themselves from infection.
In the US, Valneva SE’s IXIARO (JESPECT) vaccine has been approved by the US FDA and CDC for many years. This safe and effective vaccine is authorized for most children and adults traveling to Japanese encephalitis endemic areas.
As of 5 Oct 2024, IXIARO is available at travel vaccine clinics and pharmacies in the US.
Source:
Trump and Putin Have Had ‘As Many as Seven’ Private Phone Calls Since Trump Left the White House
What are these two chatterboxes always talking about? Saving the planet? (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have apparently communicated several times since Trump left office in 2021, according to Bob Woodward.
CNN obtained an advance copy of Woodward’s revealing new book War, which went behind the scenes of President Joe Biden’s administration and touched on Trump’s time in office as both navigated recent foreign conflicts with world leaders. Among the revelations was Trump’s seemingly special treatment of Putin, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Woodward wrote that a former Trump aide recounted being told to leave a room so Trump “could have what he said was a private phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.” Woodward adds: “According to Trump’s aide, there have been multiple phone calls between Trump and Putin, maybe as many as seven in the period since Trump left the White House in 2021.”
In 2020, Woodward writes, Trump had “secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use.”
“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Putin said to Trump, according to Woodward.
“I don’t care,” Trump replied. “Fine.”
“No, no,” Putin said. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”
Putin understands English (and speaks German), but rarely speaks it publicly. You can hear him in the YouTube link below. Trump and Putin do not need an interpreter. The two greatest threats to American national security are Donald J. Trump and his former national security advisor, disgraced US Army Gen. Michael Flynn.
Sources:
Kitten Comes Up to Man in His Front Yard, Brushing Against His Legs, Next He’s on His Shoulder, Ready to Stay
Roman and Janna had never had a cat, but a kitten inexplicably appeared in their yard, seemingly delivered by the mysterious workings of the “cat distribution system.”
Elvis the kitten. Janna at TikTok@jannaclavelli
The kitten approached Roman in his front yard, brushing against his legs. Next, he got on Roman’s shoulder and decided to stay. They named the kitten Elvis.
Janna at TikTok@jannaclavelli
With the help of the online community, Janna gave Elvis a warm bath, kitten food, and a flea comb to help clean him up. Elvis was so calm, soaking up every ounce of love and attention.
Janna at TikTok@jannaclavelli
Elvis likes to “help” when Janna does chores. Janna at TikTok@jannaclavelli
Janna at TikTok@jannaclavelli
Janna never imagined how this small, furry creature could become the missing piece she never knew she was searching for. “I had been struggling with anxiety… but since Elvis entered our lives, it has all gone away. I didn’t know I needed him till he came.”
More on Elvis on TikTok @jannaclavelli.
Source:
https://www.lovemeow.com/kitten-man-yard-shoulder-stay-2669360756.html
Coriolanus 