IDF Major General Tomer Bar woke up 7 Oct 2023 with the national alarm like other Israelis.
FTA:
“A thorough 750-page investigation by the Israeli Air Force details the events during the first hours of the 7 Oct war, highlighting significant failures in safeguarding the country’s airspace and protecting communities near Gaza.
IDF Air Force commander Major General Tomer Bar woke up that Saturday at 06:30 AM when the alarms sounded. By 07:10 AM, he declared war from the Air Force bunker and, according to the investigation’s findings, scrambled the entire force. The first flight log shows that the Air Force went into offensive action at 07:15, 45 minutes after the massacre in the Gaza envelope began when the first aircraft attacked Netiv Ha’Asarah.
Air Force Commander Major General Tomer Bar is part of the General Staff that failed in its response, and during the investigation, he took full responsibility, admitting in his own words, “We failed.”
IDF airstrike in the Gaza Strip, 9 Oct 2023. By midnight of the first day, approximately 1,000 attacks had been conducted, with 12,000 shells fired from helicopter gunships. (Photo: Atia Mohammed / Flash90)
“A civilian commission investigating the events surrounding 7 Oct 2023 has released a scathing report accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of failing to protect Israeli citizens.
The commission, chaired by retired judge Varda Alsheikh, found that both the government and security agencies failed to heed warnings and prepare adequately, concluding the disaster “was not an act of fate but could have been dramatically minimized.”
Members of the civilian commission of inquiry into the 7 Oct massacre present their findings (Photo: Yariv Katz)
After 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 captives taken for a prisoner swap on 7 Oct 2023, Netanyahu’s Nakba killed 46,707 Palestinians (including 18,000 children) and injured 110,265. Thousands of Arabs were killed and maimed in Lebanon as well. Both Gaza and Lebanon saw record levels of devastation, causing hundreds of thousands of refugees. Unqualified US support for Netanyahu’s reprisals against the Arabs during the 2024 election year cost Kamala Harris the White House on 5 Nov as antiwar voters stayed home in disgust. Netanyahu has since been indicted for war crimes by the ICC and he is on trial for corruption in Tel Aviv along with his wife Sara. Netanyahu is doing everything he can to prevent a 9/11-style commission into his handling of this savage war of ethnic cleansing. And is there anyone on the planet that thinks Joe Biden or Kamala Harris are friends with Bibi?
US Senator Bernie Sanders Excoriates Trumpf, Musk, and Oligarchs in Congress
In a speech reminiscent of William Jennings Bryant’s powerful 1896 “Cross of Gold” speech, Senator Sanders launched a tirade for the ages.
Senate Democrats Are Fighting Back Against Musk and DOGE Through GAO
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) (Getty Images)
On 12 Feb, the GAO confirmed by written letter that it will pursue the request for an investigation made by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Senator Ron Wyden into how and why DOGE accessed the US Treasury’s payment system.
“GAO’s mission is to support Congress in carrying out its constitutional duties and GAO is a legislative branch agency. As the investigative arm of Congress, GAO examines how federal dollars are spent and how federal programs, policies, and operations work.”
GAO operates with a $637m budget, employing approximately 3,000 full-time staff. Independent of the Executive Branch, DOGE can not interfere with them.
In addition, the Democratic Senators established this website:
This was posted on social media and identifies some of the DOGE perpetrators pilfering through US government systems on behalf of Teflon Musk, the Worst Person in the World. So far, sleuths have uncovered 17 of these miscreants.
11-Year-Old Texas Girl Commits Suicide Because of Immigration Status
Jocelynn Rojo Carranza (11)
Jocelynn Rojo Carranza was bullied and taunted at school over her family’s immigration status. “They were going to call immigration so they could take her parents away and she would be left alone,” her mother said. The child ended up killing herself. Mrs. Carranza did not address the immigration status of the family.
ICE Lawyer Runs Racist Website
The Texas Observer has identified the operator of “GlomarResponder,” an overtly racist social media account, as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden (on the left below), based on an overwhelming number of biographical details matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.
Can you tell the two monsters apart?
Books Mentioning Civil Rights Removed From Shelves at Fort Campbell, KY School
Fort Campbell, KY is the home of the famous 101st Airborne Division, the “Screaming Eagles.” Clarksville Now is reporting that an elementary school at Fort Campbell is removing books from its library in response to a Trumpf executive order. Clarksville Now reported it received a copy a letter sent to school administrators from the DoD Education Activity that lays out several directives to comply with the US President’s order which includes banning the promotion of “monthly cultural observations.” The eagle should be screaming.
On 25 Sep 1957, paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division (the ‘Screaming Eagles’) escorted nine students of color into the all-white Central High School in Little Rock AK.
Note the bayonets on the rifles. President Eisenhower must get credit for this important move against segregation, even though he initiated Operation Wetback in 1954.
Americans should expect vigilante groups cropping up throughout the country hunting for migrants, more ICE raids (even though detention facilities are limited), and more grandstanding from the Dotard-in-Chief.
At least two people were killed when two small planes collided in Arizona. Coriolanus is having difficulty keeping up with these incidents and people have begun calling Trumpf “President Planecrash.” Meanwhile, with Ukraine fighting for its survival, “President Planecrash” spent another leisurely day golfing. Since being in office 31 days, he has been on the links nine times, or 29% of his presidency.
NASA: ‘City Killer’ Asteroid has 3% Chance of Hitting Earth
Asteroid 2024 YR4 is traveling at 40,000 MPH. (Imagery: NASA)
An asteroid that could level a city now has a 3.1% chance of striking Earth in 2032, according to NASA, making it the most threatening space rock ever recorded by modern forecasting. But, despite the rising odds, experts say there is no need for alarm. The global astronomical community is closely monitoring the situation.
2024 YR4 was first detected on 27 Dec 2024 by the El Sauce Observatory in Chile.
Astronomers estimate its size to be between 130 and 300 feet (40–90 meters) wide, based on its brightness. Analysis of its light signatures suggests it has a fairly typical composition, rather than being a rare metal-rich asteroid.
NASA’s latest calculations estimate the impact probability at 3.1%, with a potential Earth impact date of 22 Dec 2032.
That translates to odds of one in 32 — roughly the same as correctly guessing the outcome of five consecutive coin tosses. The last time an asteroid of greater than 30 meters in size posed such a significant risk was Apophis in 2004, when it briefly had a 2.7 percent chance of striking Earth in 2029 — a possibility later ruled out by additional observations.
US Navy SEAL Candidates Sickened by Training in Sewage-Laced Ocean Water
US Navy SEAL candidates participate in Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at Coronado, CA, 23 Jan 2018. (Petty Officer 1st Class Abe McNatt / US Navy photo)
Navy SEAL candidates in California are often training in water filled with bacteria that cause illnesses, a Department of Defense watchdog report found, and the service’s special warfare command does not have a formal policy for monitoring water quality and relocating training.
The DoD inspector general’s findings said candidates at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado would often train in the water even when local San Diego beaches nearby were closed to the public due to high levels of “fecal indicator bacteria.”
Between January 2019 and May 2023 alone, the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea among SEALs and candidates.
A notable 39% of those cases, or 457 people, were diagnosed with those illnesses within a week of being in ocean water that surpassed the state’s limits for contamination. Water contamination has been a long-standing issue in Coronado due in part to pollution from the Tijuana River Valley in Mexico, which flows to area beaches and causes significant closures to the shoreline.
USN SEALs are considered amongst the toughest commandos on the planet because of their intense training and strict standards. President Obama deployed SEAL Team Six to covertly capture Al-Qaida mastermind Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.
In nearly three decades of military service, Coriolanus has never heard of a USSECDEF being booed by Americans like Pete Hegseth was pilloried in Germany last week, nor has your author heard of USN SEAL candidates being sickened by bacteria-infected ocean water. Coriolanus worked with a former USN SEAL years ago and he never related a story like this. And he had great stories. The environment is continuously deteriorating with pollution with no end in sight.The USN should consider moving training farther north, away from the offending Tijuana River.
Footnote:
To the north, San Francisco allegedly dumps dumps millions of gallons of sewage into the Pacific Ocean during big storms. Environmentalists and surfers are trying to put a stop that.
Conservation Efforts Have Doubled India’s Tiger Population
The Royal Bengal Tiger as been classified as an endangered animal by the IUCN.
Approximately three-quarters of the world’s tigers now live in India, despite rapidly growing urbanization and human populations. From 2010 to 2022, tigers in India more than doubled from an estimated 1,706 to nearly 3,700.
The improved situation for tiger populations is due to conservation and environmental protection methods safeguarding them from habitat loss and poaching. The researchers believe it offers key lessons for other big cat conservation programs around the world.
“Creating human-free protected areas allowed tigers to establish breeding populations from which they dispersed to occupy multi-use forests,” said lead author Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala, a conservationist at the Wildlife Institute of India.
From 2010-2022, India’s tiger habitat grew by 30% — about 1,131 square miles annually. Tigers are now spread across 53,359 square miles , an area about the size of England.
Bengal tiger cubs.
Coriolanus had an enjoyable experience like this in Asia decades ago.
Followers of the Watch, Coriolanus is doing his best to keep up with the wake of destruction Donald Trumpf is leaving behind in his catastrophic warpath against the people of the United States and the world.
In no specific order of damage assessment, here we go. Against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), and most likely the advice of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Trumpf ordered the release of 2.2 billion gallons of water from the Lake Kaweah and Lake Success reservoirs north of Los Angeles. But these waters would not reach Los Angeles anyway and will be needed for farmers later this year. This was a terrible waste of water that will punish Blue State Californians this upcoming spring and summer, particularly if a blistering heatwave sets in or another drought arises.
A buoy sits on dry cracked earth on a dry inlet of Shasta Lake on 30 Aug 2014 in Lakehead, CA. (Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Trumpf Endangering Passenger Air Travel
The FAA banned its employees from attending advisory panels set up to explore how to make air travel safer. “It appears that safety is being forced to take a back seat due to fear of retribution, which means we all lose,” said an FAA official. Trumpf has separately come under criticism for forcing out key aviation safety officials in the days before the recent Ronald Reagan Airport crash, at the recommendation of tech billionaire oligarch Elon Musk. Trumpf recently remarked that a high-speed railway project isn’t necessary because, according to him, a plane ticket can be purchased for only $2.
Trumpf Stops All Global USAID Activities, Ordering Personnel Home
USAID activities. This organization was created by President John F. Kennedy.
This monumentally idiotic ukase forces thousands and thousands of USAID staff and their families to abandon their homes and projects and return to the US within 96 hours. Food and medicines intended for vulnerable people in Africa and Asia are going to be wasted or looted, like in war- and disease-riven Sudan, costing thousands of innocent lives. Gizmodo reports that USAID was investigating Felon Musk’s Starlink contracts in Ukraine, one of which costs at least $23 million.
The Worst Person in the World.
America’s Godzilla has already destroyed the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) and intends on eliminating the Department of Education and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which fights for safe working conditions in America’s factories and farms.
Trumpf Spreads Autism Misinformation in RFK Jr. Senate Confirmation Push
The nephew of JFK pockets half a million dollars a year from ant-vax charity groups. His cousin Caroline said that RFK Jr secretly vaccinated his own children. (Image: NY Post)
Godzilla cited inaccurate figures of autism diagnoses as a reason why the US Senate should confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Trumpf wrote on Truth Social:
“20 years ago, Autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 in 34. WOW! Something’s really wrong.”
That social media post wasn’t the first time Trumpf has floated misinformation about autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a Dec 2024 interview with TIME magazine, Trumpf said he’d have a “big discussion” with Kennedy about potentially ending childhood vaccination programs, noting the “autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible.”
While Trumpf did not insinuate a tie between autism and vaccines in his Tuesday post, he has in the past. But wait, things get worse for Americans and national security. Godzilla evicted former four-star Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan from her home with only three hours notice this week. Trumpf had fired Admiral Fagan, the first woman to ever lead the Coast Guard, on the second day of his regime. Admiral Fagan barely had time to gather her personal belongings and was forced to spend the night with friends.
Trumpf demanded and received the names of 5,000 FBI personnel that investigated him and the white supremacist terrorists that attacked the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021. Remarkably, America’s first line of defense surrendered the names to Trumpf. The Fourth Reich can rescind the TS-SCI security clearances of these personnel, rendering them incapable of employment in the US Intelligence Community (USIC) and thus their termination from the FBI. These agents and analysts also become vulnerable to retaliation from the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, the FSB, drug cartels, the mafia, or the Hell’s Angels.
Moreover, Putin’s protege ordered CIA to offer buyouts to its entire workforce, to align it with Trumpf’s priorities. CIA is also freezing the hiring of job applicants already given a conditional offer. Some of those frozen offers are likely to be rescinded if the applicants do not have the right background for the agency’s new goals, which include targeting drug cartels, the reckless and unnecessary trade war, and undermining China.
What would this man below say about these craven capitulations to the Kremlin and the state of US national security?
Here’s what a Quebec (Canadian) newspaper had to say about America’s Godzilla.
White Supremacist Leader Found Guilty of Conspiring to Destroy Regional Power Grid
Brandon Russell studied nuclear physics, was a Florida Army National Guardsman, and founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division. (Mugshot: Tampa Police Dept).
After a six-day trial, a federal jury found Brandon Russell (29) a resident of Orlando, FL, guilty of conspiracy to damage an energy facility. From Nov 2022 to 3 Feb 2023, Russell conspired to carry out attacks against critical infrastructure, specifically transformers located within electrical substations, in furtherance of Russell’s racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist beliefs. Russell posted links to open-source maps of infrastructure, which included the locations of electrical substations, and he described how a small number of attacks on substations could cause a “cascading failure.” Russell also discussed maximizing the impact of the planned attack by hitting multiple substations at one time.
Russell recruited a Maryland-based woman, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, to carry out the attacks in Baltimore and elsewhere. They planned to damage energy facilities involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity and to cause a significant interruption and impairment of the Baltimore regional power grid. The intended monetary loss associated with the planned attacks would have exceeded $75 million.
Russell faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to damage an energy facility. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
Sarah-Beth-Clendaniel was sentenced to 18 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release.
Followers of the Watch may recall a previous post about these two dangerous miscreants, now rendered ineffective. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) may want to throw away the key on these two lunatics or send them to El Salvador or Guantanamo Bay.
SBU Detains Two Russian Saboteurs Preparing Terrorist Attack in Rivne
Ukrainian security services prevented a mass casualty attack in the center of Rivne, detaining two Russian saboteurs. The suspects were supposed to leave an improvised explosive device (IED) in a bag near the administrative building of a law enforcement agency. The attackers planned to detonate the explosives by calling a mobile phone connected to the IED.
The attack was to take place when there were many law enforcement officers near the police station and the miscreants themselves would still be near the explosive device.
“In this way, the ‘Ruscists’ planned to kill the maximum number of police officers and ordinary citizens and at the same time eliminate the perpetrators of the terrorist attack as ‘unnecessary’ witnesses.”
The SBU officers exposed the Russian agents in advance and thwarted the plot. Both suspects were detained red-handed when they were trying to plant explosives near the district police department. At the scene, a bag equipped with an IED and additional covert surveillance devices with remote access function for the Russian special services was seized from the detainees.
The saboteurs are two 19-year-olds who were looking for “quick” money on Telegram channels now face twelve years prison and financial confiscation.
These two imbeciles below were lucky as they would have been blown up in the attack by their nefarious handlers who were concealed at a safe, remote distance. As noted here on Coriolanus, Ukraine’s security services are constantly improving.
Laser Weapon Deployed Against Russian Target
The Tryzub (Trident) is based on the UK DragonFire system.
Ukraine is already using laser technologies to hit Russian targets, said Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi, commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces:
“Laser technologies are already hitting certain objects at a certain altitude.”
The commander first said in mid-Dec 2024 that Ukraine is among the few nations with laser weapon capabilities. According to Sukharevskyi, Ukraine’s laser system, called Tryzub, can down aircraft at altitudes exceeding two kms.
The Unmanned Systems Forces, established less than a year ago, already include combat and research units operating across air, land, and sea.
Russia recently attacked Ukraine with 102 drones; 59 were downed by air defense, and 37 went off radar.
The UK DragonFire Laser (Photo: UK MOD)
For Ukraine, this development is critically important, as it relies on the supply of anti-aircraft ammunition and missiles from its European partners. Another significant advantage is cost efficiency. Missiles cost tens of thousands of dollars, while a single laser shot costs several dollars.
Ocean Surface Warming Over 400% Faster Than in 1980s
Sea surface temperature anomalies for 27 January 2025. The deeper the warm colors, the more anomalously high the sea temperature is. (NOAA)
The unexpected jump in global temperatures since 2023 has helped fuel a relentless assault of associated disasters around the world, including the Los Angeles fires and the deadly Valencia floods in Spain, leaving researchers scrambling for explanations.
Data from the world’s oceans now reveal that an alarming acceleration in sea surface warming likely contributed. A new study from the University of Reading in the UK finds the tops of our oceans are warming more than four times faster than in the late 1980s.
The Earth’s diminishing reflectivity may be contributing to this. The ocean’s dark surface helps it absorb heat, whereas white clouds and aerosol particles in the atmosphere help bounce the sun’s radiation back into space. In 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a new rule to cut back on sulfur pollution from shipping fuel, but because the aerosol particles in emissions acted as a seed for clouds, the regulation had the unintended effect of dimming the marine layer of clouds that blanket the ocean.
Excess ocean warmth has had wide-ranging consequences. In April 2024, 77% of the world’s coral reefs became imperiled in the most extensive bleaching event on record, threatening the livelihoods of a billion people and a quarter of marine life. Changing ocean temperatures also shift weather patterns, potentially intensifying droughts, downpours, and storms alike.
There is still time to change the course of Earth’s energy imbalance (EEI) if we stop emitting fossil fuels (green line scenario). (Merchant et al., Environ. Res. Lett., 2025)
Our FutureUnless We Do Something Now
The remains of beachside homes in California destroyed in the Palisades Fire, 16 Jan 2025. (Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Images)
Aftermath of the floods in Valencia, Spain, 20 Oct 2024. (Photo: David Ramos /Staff / Getty Image News)
Police officers in an inflatable boat look for residents to evacuate in Guipry Messac, western France (Photo: AP)
NASA Images Reveal Mysterious Square Structure on Mars
The following images originate from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and its Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), with the original photo accessible via Arizona State University’s Mars Image Explorer.
According to several AI calculations, the base of this Square structure is estimated to measure 235 meters on each side (approximately 770 feet). Interestingly, the width of the Great Pyramid in Egypt is nearly identical, at about 230 meters.
One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Great Pyramid of Giza was built in 2600 BC over a period of 26 years. (Photo: Diego Delso)
The photo below was taken by NASA’s Viking One orbiter and released on 25 July 1976.
This image captured the public’s attention because of a feature that looks very much like a human face. Further observations confirmed that this is in fact just a hill in Mars’ Cydonia region. The human brain is wired to identify faces, even when they aren’t there. (Source: NASA/JPL)
Coriolanus shall be perusing through books like these over the next few days.
Megalomaniac racist DOGE czar Felon Musk expressed a desire to see this mysterious Martian square up close. Let’s send him forthwith.
INTERPOL: Nearly 20,000 Live Animals Seized in Largest-Ever Wildlife and Forestry Operation
Tiger cubs rescued in the Czech Republic. (Photo: INTERPOL)
138 countries and regions joined forces to target fauna and flora trafficking worldwide
From INTERPOL:
Nearly 20,000 live animals, all endangered or protected species, have been seized in a global operation against wildlife and forestry trafficking networks, jointly coordinated by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization (WCO).
Operation Thunder 2024 brought together police, customs, border control, forestry and wildlife officials from 138 countries and regions, marking the widest participation since the first edition in 2017.
Authorities arrested 365 suspects and identified six transnational criminal networks suspected of trafficking animals and plants protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Such species are illegally trafficked to meet specific market demands, whether for food, perceived medicinal benefits, “luxury” and collector items or as pets and competition animals.
Significant seizures include:
Indonesia: 134 tons of timber headed to Asia via ocean freight. Kenya: 41 tons of exotic timber headed to Asia via ocean freight. Nigeria: 4,472 kg of pangolins scales Türkiye: 6,500 live songbirds discovered during a vehicle inspection at the Syrian border. India: 5,193 live red-eared ornamental slider turtles concealed in passenger suitcases arriving from Malaysia at Chennai Airport. Peru: 3,700 protected plants intercepted en route from Ecuador. Qatar: Eight rhino horns found in a suspect’s luggage while transiting from Mozambique to Thailand. United States: One ton of sea cucumbers, considered a seafood delicacy, smuggled from Nicaragua. Hong Kong, China: 973 kg of dried shark fins originating from Morocco seized at the airport. Czech Republic: Eight tigers, aged between two months and two years, discovered in a suspected illegal breeding facility. Indonesia: 846 pieces of reticulated python skin, from the world’s longest snake species, concealed on board a ship. Australia and the United Kingdom reported seizures of bear bile, often used in traditional medicine.
More than 300 firearms, vehicles and poaching equipment.
At least four cases of measles, including two involving school-aged children, have been reported in southeast Texas in less than two weeks, putting state health agencies on alert as other counties have also reported cases in Gaines, Harris, and Lubbock.
For some communities, this is the first case of measles in more than 20 years.
About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the US who get measles will be hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Manitoba provincial public health officials are warning citizens of possible exposure to measles. Officials say there have been five confirmed cases of measles in southern Manitoba, all connected to an outbreak in Ontario. All of the affected individuals are from the same household and had recently travelled to Ontario. They have all been asked to isolate at home.
81 cases of measles have been reported in Ontario in 2024 and 2025.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease. General symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes, and a full-body rash. This disease can cause serious health consequences and even death, especially for young and unvaccinated children. Up to three of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles may die from respiratory and neurologic complications. Vaccinations and “herd immunity” are the key to stopping the spread of measles.
Anti-VAXXERs are a threat to community health.(File image/PNN)
Phillipp-Anders Rau (41), an AfD candidate for the Bundestag and alleged porn star posted this photo of himself with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on 5 Nov. (Photo: parau_afd/Instagram)
Donald Trump gathered Elon Musk, his supporters, family and friends at Mar-a-Lago on US election day last month to wait for the results to trickle in. With him that day was a small group of neo-Nazi Germans.
Rightwing Beat Ulrich Zirpel posted this on social media:
“We just shouted ‘Kämpft, kämpft, kämpft’ (‘fight, fight, fight’) with president Trump at Mar-a-Lago Club right before election night!”
“Peace in Germany and Europe will be decided with the election in the USA, Rau wrote in an Instagram caption from Florida on 5 Nov. “Patriots have to work together internationally.”
Proud German rightwing Trump enthusiasts. (Photo: parau_afd/Instagram)
“In the three state elections in eastern Germany in Sep 2024, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won more votes than ever before, even though the party adopted particularly extreme positions in those states and has been classified as right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency”.
According to the latest ARD Deutschlandtrend survey, 84% of AfD voters agree with the statement:
“I don’t care that the AfD has been labeled partly right-wing extremist, as long as it addresses the right issues.”
Citizens of the world and Americans must be wondering who won the US Civil War and the Second World War?
Christopher “Hammer” Pohlhaus (C) leads a rally with neo-Nazi groups Blood Tribe, and Goyim Defense League on 2 Sep 2023, in Orlando, Florida. (Photo: Stephanie Keith / Getty Images)
(6 Jan 2021 Photo/JTA-Saul Loeb-AFP via Getty Images)
US House Intelligence Committee Interim Report on “Havana Syndrome”
“AHI: A Real Existential Threat to the IC Workforce”
BLUF: The House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) suspects a foreign adversary is behind the Havana Syndrome. How far any executive branch investigations go under the new administration remains to be seen, but unlikely if the clues point to the Kremlin. Recently investigative journalists linked the Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI) to a Russian Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) unit numbered “29155” which CBS aired earlier this year.
Finding 1: The ICA on AHIs lacked analytic integrity and was highly irregular, hindering the Subcommittee’s trust in the IC’s process and conclusions.
Finding 2: The IC’s response to AHIs has likely impeded collection.
Finding 3: Congress’s oversight and investigation must continue with support from the Trump Administration.
Opinion: Russian intelligence (GRU) covertly directed ultrasonic pulses at US personnel to harass, sicken, and degrade their capabilities. The US Embassy in Havana, had recently re-opened and these AHIs may have been launched to disrupt relations between the US and Cuba. Some CIA and FBI personnel said the Kremlin “crossed a line” by these AHIs, but the USG was unable to provide a conclusive “smoking gun.” No official reprisals were made against Russian intelligence personnel that the public is aware of.
California BOLO Alert: Dangerous Convicted Murderer on Loose
Mug shot of Cesar M. Hernandez. (Source: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
Cesar M. Hernandez (34) is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs approximately 161 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair and was last seen wearing an orange top and orange pants. He was sentenced to 80 years to life.
Cesar M. Hernandez has been on the run since 10:45 on Monday morning (2 Dec) after escaping from a van that was taking him to the Kern County Courthouse. Authorities did not disclose whether Hernandez was handcuffed or manacled when he fled.
The fugitive has been described as “dangerous.” Members of the public are encouraged to send in any tips they have about his whereabouts but not to approach Hernandez.
Anyone who sees Hernandez or has knowledge of his whereabouts should immediately contact law enforcement, call 9-1-1, or contact Lt. Anthony Sotello, the Incident Commander at (661) 721-6300 extension 5506 or at OPEC@cdcr.ca.gov.
Anyone with tips may call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Cesar Hernandez may have an accomplice to take off his handcuffs or manacles, as well as provide him a change of clothes.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani (42) who deposed Bashar al-Assad (second from right). (Photo: circa 2016, AP)
Muhammad Al-Golani’s success on the battlefield follows years of maneuvering among extremist organizations while eliminating competitors and former allies.
Along the way he moved to distance himself from al-Qaida, polishing his image and his extremist group’s de-facto “salvation government” in an attempt to win over international governments and the country’s religious and ethnic minorities.
Rebel commander Anas Salkhadi later appeared on state TV and sought to reassure Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, saying: “Syria is for everyone, no exceptions. Syria is for Druze, Sunnis, Alawites, and all sects.”
Syrian President Bashar Assad has arrived in Moscow with his family and given asylum. Moscow had received guarantees from Syrian insurgents of the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria.
The US carried out a major round of airstrikes on Islamic State targets, warning the terror group against trying to regain strength in the country. The operation included dozens of airstrikes on over 75 targets involving ISIS operatives and camps using B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets and A-10 close-air support attack aircraft “to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria”.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to seize the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria.
Just as the Taliban suddenly swept into power in Afghanistan, so did these Sunni insurgents. Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran were unable to help the Syrian Army. Demoralized and unmotivated, the army quickly dissolved, just like Kabul’s military causing both corrupt regimes to collapse with their leaders fleeing. Israel quickly offered the olive branch of peace by seizing strategic territory in the Golan Heights and striking suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets. The US pounded Islamic State (IS) guerillas not affiliated with the al-Golani’s bloc.
The key influencers in the new Syria will be Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, both countries that support foreign Sunni Muslim movements. Ankara also supports Arab and Turkmen proxies that target Kurdish militias in northern Syria where 900 US servicemen have been deployed to conduct anti-ISIS operations.
Jordan will have a central role with the new Syria. Amman has an excellent intelligence service and as a moderate Sunni government can act as an interlocutor between Damascus and her neighbors. But the Hashemite Kingdom is also concerned about the instability that a militant Salafist regime brings to the region. Secular Lebanon, home to several faiths, has similar concerns.
Iran and Russia are the biggest international losers with the ousting of the Assad Regime, but Moscow seems to have been able to secure its naval base in Tartus. Tehran lost an ally from the Shia Crescent. The same can be said of Lebanese Hezbollah which relied on their Shia-led neighbor for support. The other losers in this regime change may be Syria’s non-Sunni minorities which the Assad regime tolerated, such as the Christians, Yezidis, and Druze. And Bashir al-Assad was seen as the protector of the Alevi Shias in Syria who may face retribution at the hands of their new Sunni overlords.
An opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus, Syria, 8 Dec 2024. The family’s 50-year rule finally ended. (Photo: AP / Hussein Malla)
Israel may have gained from the fall of Assad. But the new Sunni regime in Damascus may be more sympathetic and supportive of their fellow co-religionists, the Palestinians, who undergoing a genocide at the hands of the brutal Likud regime.
Pet Food Safety Recall:Blue Ridge Beef Puppy Mix Due to Salmonella Contamination
Blue Ridge Beef in Statesville, NC, is voluntarily recalling 9,600 lbs. of their 2 lb Puppy Mix due to a contamination of Salmonella.
The products were distributed between 6 and 23 Aug 2024 and packaged in clear plastic and sold primarily in retail stores located in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.
Salmonella can affect animals eating the products and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.
Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.
Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever, and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
The problem was discovered when a customer’s litter of puppies became ill and reported the issue to VDACS.
Consumers who have purchased this product are urged to return to place of purchase or destroy the food in a way that children, pets, and wildlife cannot access. Do not sell or donate the recalled products. Do not feed the recalled product to pets or any other animals. Wash and sanitize pet food bowls, cups, and storage containers. Always ensure you wash and sanitize your hands after handling recalled food or any utensils that come in contact with recalled food. For more information contact blueridgebeefnc@yahoo.com or 704-873-2072
This recall is being made with the knowledge of the Food and Drug Administration.
“Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them. Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now.”
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recently released similar findings, linked below.
The IDF killed at least 44,612 Palestinians and wounded 105,834 since 7 Oct 2023. On 15 Aug 2024 the IDF claimed more than 17,000 militants have been killed. Who are the remaining 27,612 deaths?
At this rate, nearly 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza will have been killed by air and drone strokes by year’s end. These figures exclude West Bank casualties.
Nearly 100,000 homes in Gaza were destroyed last year; obviously more since the dated report linked below.
The massive pager and walkie-talkie sabotage attack Israel perpetrated on Lebanon in Sep 2024 was considered an egregious violation of international war by the OHCHR. The attacks reportedly killed at least 32 people and maimed or injured 3,250, including 200 critically. Among the dead are a boy and a girl, as well as medical personnel. Around 500 people suffered severe eye injuries, including a diplomat. Others suffered grave injuries to their faces, hands, and bodies. This incident and the the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank fell outside the scope of this Amnesty International report.
Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter (Likud): “We’re rolling out Nakba 2023.” (Photo: Noam Moskowitz / Knesset spokesperson)
Avi Dichter is one of heck of a nice guy, isn’t he? If Mr. Dichter has dual Israeli and US citizenship, Donald Trump might ask him to join his administration.Remarkably, there are defenders, deniers, and apologists of this abominable genocide being perpetrated on Palestinians within the Democratic Party base. You may read their weak arguments and drivel in several liberal or democratic websites. Some parsed the wording of the Amnesty report in a feeble attempt to discredit it. And then these same polemicists wonder why the Democratic Party lost the anti-war vote and the election this past November.
US/Canada Product Recall: Anker Soundcore Lithium-Ion Battery Powered Bluetooth Speakers
33 incidents have been reported to the CPSC involving the lithium-ion batteries in the speakers overheating, some causing smoking and small fires, including one minor burn injury. 69,000 units were sold in the US, about 9,764 in Canada.
This recall involves the lithium-ion battery packs in Anker Soundcore Bluetooth Speakers sold exclusively on Amazon in 2023. Only lithium-ion battery packs in Anker Soundcore Bluetooth Speakers with models A3102016, A3302011 and A3302031 are included in this recall.
The recalled speakers can be identified by the unit’s “SN Code” which is visible on the underside of the Bluetooth Speakers. Consumers can type in the “SN Code” on Anker’s websites for these recalls https://us.soundcore.com/pages/a3102-recall and https://us.ankerwork.com/pages/a3302-recall to see if their product is recalled. Anker and Amazon have contacted all known purchasers.
[b]Lithium-ion batteries can be dangerous. Watch below what happens to the poor dogs after chewing on a battery. Both dogs and a cat escaped the fire unharmed.[/b]
Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron (R) at the Royal Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Bandar Aljaloud / AP)
President Macron is meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) ostensibly to discuss peace in the Middle East during his three-day state visit just as a political crisis threatens to topple the French government. The agenda includes ways to strengthen Lebanon’s military and the so-called “Two-State Solution” for Israel and Palestine. The optics of such a conference looks benevolent. In 2021, Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia after the 2 Oct 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul.
But in reality, a President Macron is in Riyadh to drum up business for the French economy. A caravan of 50 senior officials from major French companies including TotalEnergies, EDF and Veolia, as well as start-ups in artificial intelligence and quantum physics accompanied him. Importantly, Paris wants Riyadh to acquire French-made Rafale fighter jets and all the incidental, technical, and training contracts worth billions that would come with it. This is directly meant to deal with oil-producing Shia-led Iran.
Rafale F3R Fighter Jet (Photo: Dassault Aviation / A. Pecchi)
Under the thin veil of finding peace in the Middle East, Emmanuel Macron is dealing with Muhammad bin Salman, the man behind the heinous torture, murder, and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi. On 2 Oct 2018, the sadistic MBS listened in gleefully to the transmitted sounds of the butchery sent by his clumsy assassins. Linked at bottom is the official ODNI redacted version of this atrocity. Caught but embarrassed, the Saudi government eventually ‘punished’ the hit team calling it a ‘rogue operation’, but MBS walked away unscathed, becoming an international pariah along the way.
Undated photo of the late Jamal Khashoggi, Time’s Person of the Year in 2018.
But worse than this grisly murder which President Biden said was “unacceptable and won’t be tolerated,” MBS is responsible for the man-made famine in Yemen which killed an estimated 130,000 innocent Yemeni Shiites.
The Houthis are a Shia minority in Yemen, seen as apostates by the majority Sunnis on the Saudi Peninsula. After the Yemen government collapsed earlier this century, Saudi Arabia, led by the king and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS), supported the Yemeni Sunnis in the ensuing civil war. After the Yemeni Shias defeated and humiliated the Saudi Army in 2015, MBS instituted a Saudi air and naval blockade of Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. This created a humanitarian disaster of starvation and disease. The UN estimates an estimated 130,000 deaths from lack of food, health services, and infrastructure as of December 2020.
Hashem Mahmoud Atin, a 10-month-old displaced child suffering from acute malnutrition and who is unable to reach a hospital for treatment, is held by his mother at a refugee camp in Yemen.
The famine and blockade propelled the beleaguered Shia Yemenis into the arms of Tehran and Lebanese Hezbollah, their fellow Shia co-religionists. This is why we see Houthi drone counter-strikes against Western maritime targets in the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden after Israel conducts an Extra-Judicial Killing (XJK) in Lebanon, Syria, or sovereign Iranian territory (via drone, missile, jet, or assassin). The Shia Houthis are simply supporting the two groups that are helping them to survive. This humanitarian catastrophe can be laid squarely at the feet of the notorious MBS.
Emmanuel Macron meeting up with the fabulously wealthy but odious Crown Prince for the sake of the stumbling French economy should come as no surprise. The President of the Fifth Republic recently stated that France won’t honor the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against PIFWC Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, unlike most of the EU. And France is the home of INTERPOL in Lyon. Jerusalem may have threatened to withhold the ceasefire with Lebanese Hezbollah (LH) to coerce that public comment from Macron, desperate to maintain influence in the Middle East.
While Macron (who heads La Francophonie and has a sizeable domestic Arab constituency) and MBS perform a kabuki dance about the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank and calling for elections in Lebanon, they are really making mega-business deals. Arguably, Beijing has done more for the Palestinians than Paris or Riyadh.
Mahmoud al-Aloul from Fatah (L), Chinese FM Wang Yi (C), and Mussa Abu Marzuk, from Hamas (R) in Beijing on 23 July 2024. China successfully reconciled their differences. For decades Beijing has pushed for international recognition of Palestine; France, the UK, and the US have not. (Photo: Pedro Pardo / AFP / Getty Images)
In all fairness to France, they are like the US in opposing Vladimir Putin’s Nakba against Ukraine and support his ICC arrest warrant. Both are sending Kiev military and economic assistance. France does not oppose Benjamin Netanyahu’s “special military operation” against the Palestinians and oppose his arrest warrant, like the US. If the French diplomatic corps can’t understand why their influence in the Arab world has waned considerably over the decades, their myopia is worse than I thought.
California Man Arrested for Allegedly Exporting Shipments of Firearms, Ammunition, and Other Military Items to North Korea
Kim Jong-un firing an automatic pistol. The photographer is ill-positioned as he is down-range of the weapon and no one seems to be wearing hearing or eye protection. (Undated image)
The FBI arrested Shenghua Wen (41) of Ontario, CA, for allegedly exporting shipments of firearms, ammunition, and other military items to North Korea that were concealed inside shipping containers bound from Long Beach through Hong Kong to North Korea.
The FBI seized two devices that he intended to send to North Korea for military use: a chemical threat identification device and a hand-held broadband receiver that detects eavesdropping devices. Law enforcement also seized approximately 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that Wen allegedly obtained to send to North Korea.
(Photos: FBI)
(Photos: FBI)
Wen is a Chinese national who is illegally in the US after overstaying his student visa and is therefore prohibited from possessing any firearms or ammunition. Wen lacks the required licenses from the US government to export ammunition, firearms, and the other devices that law enforcement seized at his home to North Korea.
Wen is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
The MSS is a vast apparatus and unknown is whether the Chinese government was aware of this conspiracy or whether they looked the other way. Espionage continues to be a less expensive way of acquiring sensitive technology from the West. The 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition would most likely be intended for North Korean espionage agents or their Special Forces, like the ones who deployed to Russia to fight against Ukraine.
The Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistol above is issued to North Korean spies and commandos.
North Korean supremo Kim Jong-un enjoying a cigarette and light refreshment while his people starve. Nine out of ten North Koreans suffer from food insecurity. (Photo: 13 Jun 2022, Reuters)
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
COVID Map Update Reveals New States With ‘Very High’ Wastewater Activity
More states are detecting “very high” levels of the COVID-10 virus in wastewater.
According to the US CDC, Idaho, New Mexico and South Dakota all had “very high” levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in their wastewater during the week between 17 and 23 Nov., Between 10 and 16 Nov, only New Mexico’s wastewater had this level of the virus present.
Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire currently have “high” levels of COVID-19, while “moderate” levels were detected in Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wyoming.
Nineteen states had “low” levels, while 14 states and Wash DC had “minimal” levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus present in wastewater.
The COVID-19 virus is spreading but cases of illness are not exploding because of the previous vaccination program. If Americans do not want to endure another nightmarish lockdown, they should take annual booster shots and maintain good hygiene habits. Covering the mouth when sneezing or coughing, as well as washing the hands constantly will help. The US Senate can assist by not confirming any of the frauds or quacks the President-elect seems to have in mind for his imminent administration.
Why Israeli Men Volunteered to Fight, But Now Refuse to Return to Gaza
Excerpted from Fergal Keane’s excellent article. She is a Special Correspondent to the BBC.
Look at these heavily armed IDF soldiers warn this Palestinian child riding a bicycle. The troop on the left seems to be aiming his assault rifle at this waif. (Photo: circa 2012)
Yuval Green (26) is among those refusing to continue fighting in Gaza.
Yuval immediately answered his country’s call to arms after the 7 Oct 2023 surprise attack by armed Palestinian groups in southern Israel. It was a mission to defend Israelis. Then came the fighting in Gaza itself. Things seen that could not be unseen. Like the night he saw cats eating human remains in the roadway.
“Start to imagine, like an apocalypse. You look to your right, you look to your left, all you see is destroyed buildings, buildings that are damaged by fire, by missiles, everything. That’s Gaza right now.”
“Start to imagine, like an apocalypse. You look to your right, you look to your left, all you see is destroyed buildings, buildings that are damaged by fire, by missiles, everything. That’s Gaza right now.”
IDF soldiers pass by destroyed homes inside the Gaza Strip. (IDF Handout via REUTERS)
One year on, the young man who reported for duty on 7 Oct 2023 is refusing to fight. There have been social media posts from soldiers in Gaza abusing prisoners, destroying property, and mocking Palestinians, including numerous examples of soldiers posing with people’s possessions – including womans’ dresses and underwear.
“I was trying to fight that at the time as much as I could,” says Yuval. “There was a lot of dehumanizing, a vengeful atmosphere.”
His personal turning point came with an order he could not obey.
“They told us to burn down a house, and I went to my commander and asked him: ‘Why are we doing that?’ And the answers he gave me were just not good enough. I wasn’t willing to burn down a house without reasons that make sense, without knowing that this serves a certain military purpose, or any type of purpose. So, I said no and left.”
That was his last day in Gaza.
Yuval is the co-organizer of a public letter signed by more than 165 – at the latest count – IDF reservists, and a smaller number of permanent soldiers, refusing to serve, or threatening to refuse, unless the hostages are returned – something that would require a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The UN has said reports of alleged torture and sexual violence by Israeli guards were “grossly illegal and revolting” and enabled by “absolute impunity.”
Ten years ago, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, warned about this phenomenon in what he called the ‘religification’ of the IDF.
“Within this context, messages about Jewish superiority and demonization of the enemy are fertile ground for fostering brutality and releasing soldiers from moral constraints.”
Michael Ofer-Ziv (29) was an operations officer in a brigade war room. (Photo: Getty Images)
The decisive moment for Michael Ofer-Ziv came when the IDF shot three Israeli hostages in Gaza in Dec 2023. The three men approached the army stripped to the waist, and one held a stick with a white cloth. A soldier had felt threatened and opened fire, killing two hostages. A third was wounded but then shot again and killed, when a soldier ignored his commander’s ceasefire order.
“I remember thinking to what level of moral corruption have we got… that this can happen. And I also remember thinking, there is just no way this is the first time [innocent people were shot]… It’s just the first time that we are hearing about it, because they are hostages. If the victims were Palestinians, we just would never hear about it.”
Coriolanus wishes these young fellow warriors well in a future of justice, peace, and tranquility in the Middle East.
The numbers of war-resisters in Israel will grow as war-related guilt, pangs of conscience, memories of horror, and PTSD spread throughout the ranks. This is an all too familiar pattern with war. As noted in a previous post, high school girls will be refusing induction into the IDF, as did a young man who will face judicial consequences for his moral stand.
Gil Zalsman, the Chair of the Israeli National Council for Suicide Prevention, had warned about the “tsunami of mental illnesses” among IDF personnel in the occupied territories and the potential increase in suicide cases after the end of the war. He stressed that referrals to crisis and mental health centers in the occupied territories increased by 40% last year.
On 22 Nov, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper wrote that at least six IDF soldiers who fought in Gaza and Lebanon, committed suicide in recent months. In the US, an average of 20 veterans dies from suicide every day.
Our special thanks to Fergal Keane at “the BeeB.” Her complete article may be read at the link below.
Food Recall in California: Raw Farm Milk and Cream
Raw Farm, LLC is voluntarily recalling its raw milk and cream products due to possible bird flu contamination. Californians are strongly encouraged not to consume any raw milk or cream products in their possession or still on store shelves. Pasteurized milk remains safe to drink.
Raw Farm milk products have tested positive for bird flu at both retail and dairy storage and bottling sites in recent days.
Customers should immediately return any remaining product to the retail point of purchase.
While this voluntary recall only applies to raw whole milk and cream, due to multiple bird flu detections in the company’s operation the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) urges consumers to avoid consuming any Raw Farm products for human consumption including raw milk, cream, cheese, and kefir, as well as raw milk pet food topper and pet food kefir marketed to pet owners.
In addition to the statewide voluntary recall, CDFA has placed the farm under quarantine, suspending any new distribution of its raw milk, cream, kefir, butter and cheese products produced on or after 27 Nov.
No human bird flu cases associated with the product have been confirmed to date, and the state is working closely with federal and local partners to investigate the situation and better understand how it might impact consumers. California continues to monitor and respond to bird flu outbreaks in dairy cows and poultry. Bird flu virus levels have been demonstrated to be high in raw milk from infected cows, and sporadic human cases identified in workers in close contact with infected dairy cows and their milk indicate that raw milk is infectious to humans.
Public health experts have long warned consumers against consuming raw milk or raw milk products due to elevated risks of foodborne illness. Outbreaks due to Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, toxin producing E. coli, Brucella, Campylobacter, and many other bacteria have all been reported related to consuming raw dairy products. Raw milk products are not pasteurized, a heating process that kills bacteria and viruses such as bird flu.
Pasteurized milk and pasteurized milk products are safe to consume because the heating process kills pathogens, including bird flu, that can cause illness.
Drinking or accidentally inhaling raw milk containing bird flu virus may lead to illness. In addition, touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands after touching raw milk with bird flu virus may also lead to infection. Symptoms of bird flu infection in humans include eye redness or discharge, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, trouble breathing and fever. Anyone who has consumed these specific products and is experiencing these symptoms, should immediately contact their health care provider or local health department.
Pet Safety and Raw Milk Pet Food Products
CDPH advises consumers to avoid raw milk “pet food topper” and “pet food kefir” products marketed to pet owners. They should neither eat this food themselves nor feed it to their pets. Cats, dogs, and other animals may become sick with bird flu after drinking raw milk. Cats on infected dairy farms in multiple states have died from bird flu, most likely from drinking raw milk from infected cows. CDPH encourages pet owners to avoid feeding their pets raw pet food products in general, including raw milk-based products. To further limit risk to pets, pet owners should also keep their pets away from sick or dead birds.
Pasteurized milk is safe to drink. Pasteurization, one of the most significant scientific food safety discoveries in human history, is the process of heating milk to specific temperatures for a certain length of time to kill many microorganisms and enzymes that lead to spoilage and illness. Pasteurization kills the bird flu virus and other harmful germs that can be found in raw milk. CDPH advises consumers not to drink raw milk or eat raw milk products due to the risk of foodborne illnesses.
Since early October, California has reported 31 confirmed human cases of bird flu, 30 of whom had direct contact with infected dairy cows. No person-to-person spread of bird flu has been detected in California or the US.
Farmers should contact the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s bird flu hotline at 866-922-2473 if they suspect their animals are infected with bird flu.
Stowaway On Delta Airlines NYC-Paris Flight Bypassed Security Checkpoints at JFK
Different flight paths between NYC and Paris.
A Russian woman who stowed away on a flight from New York to Paris last week was able to sneak through the security checkpoint by starting off in a lane reserved for airline flight crews. Ms. Svetlana Dali (57) was able to get through an advanced imaging technology body scanner at JFK and dodge document and ID checks during the security process.
Once the woman proceeded to the gate, she placed herself in the middle of what appeared to be a family traveling together.
Investigators believe a contributing factor may have been the massive holiday weekend crowds at the airport. The TSA said it screened nearly 2.7 million passengers at US airports on that Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
TSA checkpoints at JFK (Photo: TSA)
The woman is attempting to claim asylum in France. But French authorities are apparently denying Svetlana Dali entry to the country because she doesn’t meet the criteria for asylum nor did she have a visa, leaving her in limbo in the airport.
The Russian national remains in France after allegedly causing a disturbance and refusing to board a return flight to the US a couple of days ago.
While Ms. Dali hasn’t been arrested or detained in France, she could face charges such as criminal trespass and theft of services upon her return to the US.
But it remains unclear how she was able to board the plane.
Once on board, Ms Dali moved from one bathroom to another and never took a seat until flight attendants began to notice. Once confronted, The stowaway repeated: “I do not want to go back to the USA. Only a judge can make me go back to the USA.”
The woman was expected to be accompanied by six US marshals on her flight back to NY.
Inspectors from the TSA are preparing a civil case against the stowaway after reviewing airport security video from inside JFK. The TSA cannot bring criminal charges, though it can refer them to the Justice Department. It’s unclear whether any criminal charges will be filed.
Delta Airlines has not said how the woman was able to board the plane once she made it past the TSA checkpoint but “is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred.”
This clever and determined woman was evidently hell-bent on departing the US. She may have been absconding justice or the prospects of living in the US under the incoming Trump administration may have been too much for her. Wealthy people have already begun their exodus, like actress Eva Longoria.
Investigators will soon determine Ms. Dali’s motive for fleeing the US and if she was genuinely seeking asylum in France. Instead of fining and punishing this woman, TSA, Delta Airlines, and the FAA should learn from her experience. Should federal charges be brought before Ms. Dali, they would be in the Eastern District of NY where some compassionate judges are sitting at the bench.
Mystery Disease in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Kills 143 People
The DRC has a population of 115,403,027; 75% of them live under the poverty line. (Map: CIA)
A flu-like disease that has killed dozens of people over two weeks is being investigated in southwestern DRC, not to be confused with neighboring Congo-Brazzavilleto the west.
The deaths were recorded between 10 and 25 Nov in the Panzi health zone of Kwango province. Symptoms include fever, headache, coughing, and anemia.
The deputy provincial governor reported that between 67 and 143 people had died. He warned the population to exercise caution and refrain from contact with dead bodies to avoid contamination. WHO is aware of the unidentified disease and has a team on the ground working with local health services to collect samples.
Congo is already dealing with massive food insecurity as eight million internally displaced people (IDP) require daily humanitarian assistance.
Bulengo IDP Camp.(Photo: Concern Worldwide)
Moreover, Congo is also plagued with the mpox epidemic. More than 47,000 suspected cases and over 1,000 suspected deaths from the disease have been recorded in the Central African country. Readers may recall this terrifying, but controversial, bestseller below about the Ebola virus which became a TV series.
The DRC has one of the largest reserves of potential wealth, including 200 million acres of cultivable land and large reserves of gold, diamonds, copper, zinc, coltan, and cobalt. Yet, the DRC is the sixth-lowest country on the UN’s Human Development Index (HDI). 75% of the population live below the poverty line and GDP per capita is $1,500.
Since independence, the former personal territory of King Leopold II of Belgium has suffered from political instability, a lack of infrastructure, corruption, and centuries of both commercial and colonial extraction and exploitation. Just recently, Belgium has just been found guilty of crimes against humanity for the forced removal of five mixed-race children from their mothers in colonial Congo. Five plaintiffs were forcibly removed from their Congolese mothers between 1948 and 1953 as small children and sent to a Catholic mission far from their homes. The total number of such inhuman abductions by the Belgian colonial government has not yet been uncovered.
The above Tintin book written in 1931 was once banned in several countries for its naive and racist portrayal of the natives while highlighting “benevolent” Belgian rule. Herge was, of course, a Belgian and conservative Catholicwho survived Nazi occupation.
A ten-year-old boy stands inside his house damaged in an IDF strike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, 29 Nov 2024. Thousands of Lebanese returned to their homes only to find rubble with winter approaching. (Photo: Reuters)
The World Bank reported that Lebanon suffered more than $5 billion in economic losses and damaged nearly 100,000 housing units. Nearly 1.2 million people have been displaced.
The World Bank report provided estimates for damage between 8 Oct 2023 and 27 Oct 2024, saying “the conflict has caused $5.1 billion in economic losses” and that it “damaged an estimated 99,209 housing units” — mainly in Lebanon’s war-torn south.
3,580 Lebanese were killed and over 15,000 wounded. And those seeking medical care faced challenges. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 226 Lebanese medical personnel were killed since 7 Oct 2023 and several clinics destroyed. Beirut long accused the IDF of targeting physicians and medical infrastructure.
But the ceasefire does not appear to be holding.
(Map courtesy of the jewishvirtuallibrary.org)
Israel carried out several attacks in southern Lebanon. Artillery bombardment struck the villages of Markaba, Talusa, and Khiyam while four IDF tanks moved into the western part of Khiyam, and an IDF tank fired at a house in Nabatiyeh province. The IDF stated they would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement” after detecting an alleged movement of a Hezbollah rocket launcher.
Two Palestinian Children and Woman Crushed to Death Outside Gaza Bakery Amid Food Shortage
Palestinians gather to receive bread from a bakery in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, 29 Nov 2024. Food insecurity is affecting nine out of ten Gazans and winter is fast approaching. (Photo: Reuters)
Two children and a woman were crushed to death as a crowd of Palestinians pushed to get bread at a bakery in the Gaza Strip amid a worsening food crisis in the war-ravaged territory.
The bodies of two girls aged 13 and 17 and the 50-year-old woman were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where a doctor confirmed that they died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery. Video from The Associated Press showed their bodies placed next to each other on the floor inside the hospital’s morgue.
The flow of food allowed into Gaza by Israel has fallen to nearly its lowest level of almost 14-month-old war for the past two months, according to Israeli official figures. UN and aid officials say hunger and desperation are growing among Gaza’s population, almost all of which relies on humanitarian aid to survive.
Osama Abu Laban, the father of one of the girls, wailed over the loss of her life outside the hospital.
“My wife fell when she heard that she [our daughter} was suffocating. She did not yet know that she was dead,” he told the AP.
Some bakeries in Gaza were closed for several days last week due to a shortage of flour. AP footage taken last week after they reopened showed large crowds of people cramming together, screaming and pushing, at one bakery in Deir al-Balah.
Palestinians across the Gaza Strip are heavily relying on bakeries and charitable kitchens, with many able to only secure one meal a day for their families.
More than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people. Just in the past 24 hours, the IDF killed 100 Palestinians, including 75 killed in air strikes on two homes in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.
In the West Bank, the IDF killed nine Palestinians, including one child, over the last week, seven of them during a 48-hour period in Jenin. In retaliation, a Palestinian man martyred himself in a counterattack against Israelis on a bus which Hamas took credit for.
IDF personnel surround a bullet-riddled bus close to the settlement of Ariel, near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: AFP)
Samer Hussein (46), who spent several years in Israeli jails on suspicion of anti-Israeli activities, was killed by IDF troops shortly after opening fire toward the bus near the Israeli settlement of Ariel. Four soldiers were slightly wounded and three people were critically injured.
The IDF has killed 796 Palestinians since 7 Oct 2023, mostly in military raids on Palestinian cities and towns. Attacks by fanatical settlers on Palestinians and their property also have increased. Rabid settlers attempted to attack IDF MG Avi Bluth last week, but were fended off by the general’s PSD. So naturally counterattacks by armed Palestinians against Israelis in the West Bank would increase, like the incident above.
The terrors and hardships that Benjamin Netanyahu is inflicting on Palestinians is quite similar to what Russian President Vladimir Putin is inflicting on the Ukrainians this winter. Netanyahu’s “Nakba” = Putin’s “Special Military Operation.”
The major difference between these twin terror campaigns orchestrated by the two PIFWCs is that the US is massively funding Israel to conduct the ethnic cleansing, while massively funding Ukraine to prevent its ethnic cleansing.
Remarkably, upon hearing that the International Criminal Court at the Hague issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, President Biden said it was “outrageous.” He did not say the same when such a warrant was issued for Vladimir Putin. And French President Emmanuel Macron stated France would not honor the arrest warrant should Netanyahu despoil Paris with his odious presence.
More Than One Million Ukrainians Left Without Electricity After Latest Russian Attack on Energy Infrastructure
Russia unleashed a “massive” attack on Ukraine’s infrastructure on 28 Nov, leaving more than one million people without power in freezing temperatures across the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of a “despicable escalation,” as the Interior Ministry recorded damage to infrastructure in nine regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the latest attack was Moscow’s “response” to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with US medium-range ATACMS missiles.
Speaking during a trip to Kazakhstan, Putin warned that Russia’s future targets could include “decision-making centers” in Kiev.
Putin said Russia launched more than 90 missiles and 100 drones in the “comprehensive strike” on 28 Nov and that 17 targets had been hit — the type of detail that the president rarely gives.
Ukraine’s air force shot down 79 missiles and 35 drones, while 62 drones were “lost,” meaning they had likely been disrupted by electronic warfare.
All missiles or drones aimed at Kiev were downed.
A power plant in Ukraine severely damaged by a Russian airstrike. (Photo: AP)
The attack forced national power-grid operator Ukrenerho to urgently introduce emergency power cuts in Kiev, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk.
Kiev had also reportedly disconnected several nuclear power units from the network during the attack. Ukraine gets more than half of its electricity from nuclear plants.
The inhumane attack comes as the temperatures across Ukraine dropped to around zero degrees Celsius.
Ukrainian civilians trying to stay warm (undated image).
Earlier this month, a senior UN official, Rosemary DiCarlo, warned that Moscow’s targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure may make this winter the “harshest since the start of the war” nearly three years ago.
During America’s tortured involvement in Vietnam one-half century ago, a familiar meme evolved: “We have to burn down the village in order to save it.” If PIFWC Vladimir Putin had designs on re-absorbing Ukraine and her people into his Pan-Slavic Union, a neo-USSR like in his glory days, he has a strange way of showing his love for the people he wants to one day rule. He is burning down the village in order to save it.
Putin’s “Special Military Operation” = Netanyahu’s “Nakba”
The mutual animus between Ukrainians and Russians have been thoroughly baked into the DNA cake, much like the Israelis and the Palestinians. While the US sanctioned one aggressor baking this horrible cake of hatred (Russia), Washington did not sanction the other (Israel), which cost the Democrats the White House in 2024, just like in 1968. Remarkably, many American Democrats argue that US funding of Israel and the horrendous Nakba had nothing to do with Kamala Harris’ disastrous loss to a criminally convicted and twice impeached GOP candidate. Many are still wondering why millions of Democrats stayed home on Election Day.
Putin’s Meat-Grinder War Chewing Up Russian Soldiers on Industrial Scale
Russia lost 2,030 soldiers in the past 24 hours, reports Ukraine’s military. 500 North Korean soldiers were reportedly KIA since their deployment to fight Ukraine.
Russia’s staggering death toll marks the Russian tyrants most damaging period of his over 1,000-day-old conflict so far.
The previous highest was 1,950 on 12 Nov. Putin’s meat grinder approach is still miserably failing with over 738,000 Russian casualties.
But despite the harrowing figures continuing to soar Russia has found success on the battlefield. UK Defence Secretary John Healey has warned the 600-mile frontline is now at the most unstable it has been since February 2022.
While Putin is losing soldiers at an abominable rate, the Russian economy is losing as well. The ruble tumbled to its lowest level in over two years, as a mix of low oil prices, new sanctions against Russian businesses and burgeoning government spending on its war effort put strains on the Russian economy.
The central bank reacted by suspending currency purchases for the rest of this year. That will restrict the supply of rubles and should support the exchange rate accordingly.
In response to the Ukrainian Storm Shadow attack last week, Putin authorized the use of a hypersonic missile called the “Oreshnik.” This has been described as far superior to any other weapon in Russia’s arsenal. Putin claimed the Oreshnik can turn almost anything it hits into dust.
The Kremlin wisely notified Washington before launching the Oreshnik to prevent a nuclear misunderstanding.
Hepatitis A Infection Reported at Buffalo Wild Wings in Monterey Park, CA
Los Angeles County public health officials are investigating the possible spread of Hepatitis A after an employee at a well-known restaurant and bar in Monterey Park became sick with the virus. The infection was reported at Buffalo Wild Wings in the 4000 block of Market Place.
(Map courtesy of Mapcarta)
While there are no additional cases reported this week, officials urged anyone who ate or consumed drinks at the restaurant between 13 and 22 Nov to receive hepatitis A vaccine or monitor for the symptoms, which include fever, weakness, fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, and jaundice.
People who have not received the vaccine or never had hepatitis A infection may be more vulnerable. The public health department is also working with the restaurant to make sure all employees are vaccinated.
Computer illustration showing the liver and a close-up view of hepatitis A viruses. (Image courtesy of NBC News)
Hepatitis A can in some cases cause death as it spreads when a person unknowingly consumes contaminated food or drinks. There is no specific antiviral treatment for hepatitis A
Director of British Intelligence: “The World is at its Most Dangerous Point in 40 Years.”
Sir Richard Moore, head of MI6, issues a warning to Ukraine’s allies in Paris after Donald Trump’s election. (Photo: AP)
The world is at its most dangerous point for 40 years, the head of MI6 has warned, accusing Russia of waging a “staggeringly reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe to undermine support for Ukraine.
“In 37 years in the intelligence profession I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious,” Sir Richard said, adding that if “Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there.”
Sir Richard said MI6 “cherishes our heritage of covert action, which we keep alive today” – with British spies working to stop the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He warned that a victory for Mr Putin in Ukraine would jeapordize both European and transatlantic security, in what appeared a message to president-elect Donald Trump, with the incoming US leader having repeatedly complained about the amount of money and military aid Washington is sending to help Kiev.
“We have recently uncovered a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe, even as Putin and his acolytes resort to nuclear sabre-rattling to sow fear about the consequences of aiding Ukraine,” he said. “The cost of supporting Ukraine is well known but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher. If Putin succeeds China would weigh the implications, North Korea would be emboldened and Iran would become still more dangerous,” Sir Richard concluded.
Whenever the D/MI6 or D/CIA speak, we should pay attention. Coriolanus has previously written about Russian sabotage efforts against NATO, as well as the Kremlin’s insidious covert support for far-right wing parties in Europe. In 2016 retired MI6 operative Christopher Steele accumulated a dossier against Donald Trump which suggested that Vladimir Putin held compromising materials (‘kompramat’) on the President-Elect. Mr. Steele obtained “raw intelligence” from his Russian contacts which needed to be finely sifted. Raw data, rumors, hints, can lead to revelations, but they must not be taken as 100% accurate at face value. While the allegations have never been proven, nothing in the report was ever disproven.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said:“With Trump, all roads lead to Putin. I don’t know what the Russians have on the president, politically, personally, or financially.”
President Trump with Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergei Sislyak in the White House, May 2017. No doubt we will see something similar in 2025. (Photo: Alexander Shcherbak / TASS / Getty Images)
In 2025, NATO and the Western intelligence services will be ready to deal with a Moscow-friendly intelligence apparatus. The US will receive less critical information from its allies over concern the data will be leaked to Russia or Israel. Friendly intelligence services will increase their budgets and manpower to make up for less US support. Canada recently led a NATO exercise in the Balkans (as reported here on Coriolanus).
RFK Jr. Visited Samoa in 2019 and Spread Anti-VAX Disinformation Causing 83 Deaths and 1,867 Hospitalizations from Measles
Samoa’s then prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi (R), and RFK Jr (C) at 57th anniversary of independence celebrations in Mulinu’u, Samoa, on 1 June 2019. (Photo: Misiona Simo / AP)
From The Guardian:
“In the small island country of Samoa, lives have been forever altered by an outbreak of measles in 2019 that caused at least 83 deaths and 1,867 hospitalizations, mostly of babies and young children. Thousands more fell sick. The preventable illness was able to spread through the small, closely knit population of about 200,000 due to record low vaccination rates – stemming from a medical vaccination error, the Samoan government’s public health mismanagement, and fueled by anti-vaccination sentiment from Robert F Kennedy Jr.”
Siiae Olilefauaitu sits outside her house with her surviving children. She won’t move from her hovel because her dead unvaccinated daughter is buried on her property. (Nov 2024 Photo: Michelle Duff / The Guardian)
Reports that some Republican US Senators won’t confirm this idiot to head HHS is encouraging, nor will they allow a recess appointment allowing him to slip through. Does the President-elect have a “Death Wish” for the American people with his quack choices to lead the US government health agencies? We know Donald Trump accepts the abominable amount of gun deaths in the US as something “we must get over.” How the GOP elite and wealthy benefit from wholesale needless American deaths is something Coriolanus has been investigating for some time.
Indian Airlines Suffer Through 1,000 Bomb Scare Hoaxes
India’s airlines and airports reportedly received nearly 1,000 fake bomb threats as of early November, disrupting flight schedules and wreaking havoc on services.
Murlidhar Mohol, the country’s deputy civil aviation minister, told parliament that 999 bogus threats had been received as of 14 Nov, with more than half of them coming in the last two weeks of October.
That was nearly ten times the number of threats made in 2023 and a sharp increase from years past. Authorities recorded 120 bomb hoaxes at airports between 2014 and 2017 with about half directed at Delhi and Mumbai.
There was “no actual threat detected at any of the airports/aircraft in India,” Mohol said.
Officials have made 12 arrests in connection to the threats.
The country’s civil aviation ministry said it was making “every possible effort” to protect flight operations, adding that airports have a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee that monitors threats and decides the appropriate course of action.
Threats can lead to the deployment of bomb disposal squads, sniffer dogs, ambulances, police, and doctors.
They also often require passengers to deboard the plane, along with baggage, who then have to go through security again.
Engineer and security teams must also search and clear the plane before it can take off.
(Photo: AFP)
In 1984, Air India 182 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean and the culprits were Sikh extremists, so this is quite a sensitive matter that the Indian authorities are taking seriously. That attack killed all 329 people on board, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens, and 22 Indian citizens.[4] The bombing of Air India Flight 182 is the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history, the deadliest aviation incident in the history of Air India and was the world’s deadliest act of aviation terrorism until the 11 Sep 2001 against the US.
The idiots making these bomb threats are diverting police resources from genuine threats, as well as wasting time and fuel. India is already choking with smog and people are living under a dangerously poor Air Quality Index (AQI). The flight delays and scheduling problems cause secondary effects with other airports and carriers. Passenger jets have allocated times for arrivals and departure at airports because of the limited amount of airspace, tarmacs, and number of available gates. Delayed aircraft may spend time circling an airport if it misses its allotted landing time, burning unneccessary fuel.
After decimating Lebanon’s infrastructure and killing enough Known or Suspected Terrorists (KSTs), as well as innocent bystanders and medical personnel (3,580 killed, over 15,000 wounded), the Israeli Death Forces (IDF) accepted a ceasefire. So they continued their Nakba in Gaza. At least four people in the al-Tabin school shelter for displaced people in Gaza City were killed. And the IDF continues blockading humanitarian relief into Gaza.
Opposition leader Yair Golan questioned why Benjamin Netanyahu has not struck a deal to stop the bloodbath in Gaza.
“The most important test is to end the war in Gaza,” said Golan, who heads the opposition coalition the Democrats.
“If it is possible to reach an agreement with Hezbollah, why can’t we reach an agreement with Hamas and free the hostages? The fighting continues only because Netanyahu is politically dependent on a fanatical and messianic group that wants to win the war,” Golan concluded.
Women and children queue for bread at a bakery in Khan Younis. “NHI” is when people die of starvation, disease, exposure, or untreated wounds. Winter is fast approaching. (25 Nov 2024 Photo: UNRWA)
The Gaza Health Ministry said 44,056 people have been killed and 104,268 wounded since 7 Oct 2023. The real toll is probably higher because thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or in areas that medics cannot access.
The Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count and more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The IDF reported it has killed over 17,000 militants without providing evidence or proving their guilt in a court of law. That means 27,056 Palestinian deaths were innocent non-combatants. The Likud government will no doubt encourage an exodus of Palestinians from Gaza in the near future.
In the occupied West Bank, at least 760 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,769 injured by the IDF and lunatic Settlers. This is pure homicide and simply ethnic cleansing. Those maniacs recently attacked IDF Major General Avi Bluth (see previous post).
The incredibly unpopular Netanyahu faces a bribery and corruption trial which has dogged him for years, but the proceedings have been held in abeyance because of the war. The longer the conflict goes, the better it is for the “Crime Minister” and the 100 or so hostages be damned. Possibly a third of them are dead, some killed accidentally killed by the IDF.
This clever protestor above holds her version of the iconic poster below.
The Chief of Staff to Benjamin Netanyahu is being investigated over allegations of altering documents relating to the 7 Oct 2023 surprise attack to portray the Prime Minister in a more favorable light. The Israeli police Lahav 433 major crimes unit questioned Tzachi Braverman for over five hours. Inevitably the loathsome Netanyahu will have to face a 9/11 Commission-style inquiry into his handling of 7 Oct 2023. Israel, now described as a Pariah State, is defending itself of genocide charges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague. Netanyahu and ex-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague and international arrest warrants have been issued for them.
In a statement that should not surprise anyone, French President Emmanuel Macron breathtakingly said that Paris would not honor the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu in a dazzling display of duplicitous dissembling. As previously posted, French diplomacy is chaotic. And do diplomats at the Quai d’Orsay wonder why France lost complete influence over Lebanon in a span of ten years? The leader of La Francophonie, consisting of Arab, Muslim, and African populations, just shot himself in the foot with both barrels. Curiously, no journalist asked President Macron if France, an EU and NATO member, as well as signatory to the Rome Statutes, would honor the similar ICC arrest warrant for indicted war criminal Russian President Vladimir Putin?And of all places, INTERPOL is based in Lyon, France.
An INTERPOL Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant, but an alert to governments that the individual is wanted for alleged crimes. While many Red Notices are publicly visible at www.interpol.int, many are not, as in the case of PIFWCs Netanyahu and Doav Gallant.
To help Netanyahu control the narrative and crush any dissenting voices in Israel, the Likud cabinet has approved a proposal to cut all government links with Haaretz – a move that could cripple the 105-year-old newspaper financially and force it to shut down. The al-Jazeera News Bureau in Israel was previously banned.
The “Crime Minister” is counting the days until President-elect Donald Trump takes over. Once Trump is in, Netanyahu can proceed full steam ahead with ethnic cleansing Palestinians in the West Bank under the contented eye of US Ambassador Mike Huckabee who refers to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria. Moreover, knowing that he’ll be supported by the full might of USCENTCOM, Netanyahu can resume focusing his ire on Iran. Of course, the American taxpayer will continue funding this warmonger.
Kremlin Expels UK Diplomat; Ex-British Soldier POW; Russian Senior General Replaced; Confirmation of North Korean Casualties
Through South Korean intelligence channels, the US confirmed that 500 North Koreans had been killed in a Ukrainian attack with British Storm Shadow missiles last week. A high-ranking North Korean commander may have also been liquidated. Kiev struck “firstest with the mostest” and the North Koreans troops learned they were now in a real war– not in showcase parades– and they can be killed unexpectedly. This won’t demoralize Pyongyang, but will erode any fighting spirit in the young North Korean conscripts. Vladimir Putin warned South Korea they would be making a “big mistake” if Seoul provides Ukraine with its high-tech mass casualty producing weapons. South Korea is a top-ten weapons manufacturer in the world. But the South Korean military establishment is not easily intimidated having spent decades dealing with North Korea, as well as deploying their soldiers to foreign combat zones, like Vietnam or Iraq.
South Korean commandos about to demonstrate extraordinary martial arts feats during a rehearsal for welcoming ceremony of the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) at the Ministry of National Defense in South Korea, 29 Oct 2013. (Xinhua/Park Jin-hee)
Second Secretary Edward Pryor Wilkes (Undated photo / FSB)
Authorities in Moscow have ordered a British diplomat accused of espionage to leave the country. Edward Pryor Wilkes was allegedly sent to Moscow to replace one of six British diplomats accused of spying in August, according to the FSB.
The FSB claimed Wilkes “deliberately provided false information when obtaining a permit to enter our country, thus violating Russian law.” It also alleged that his activities showed “signs of intelligence and subversive work” threatening national security.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry revoked the diplomat’s accreditation and ordered him to leave the country within two weeks. State media reported that Britain’s ambassador to Moscow was summoned over the allegations.
The British Foreign Office said the expulsion order was “not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff. We will respond in due course.”
The agency accused the directorate of being transformed into “an intelligence service tasked with inflicting strategic defeat on Russia” following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
James Scott Rhys Anderson (22), former UK Army Signalman
A Russian court ordered the arrest of James Scott Rhys Anderson, a British national, on charges of mercenary activity and participation in Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
Anderson, as part of Ukraine’s International Legion, illegally crossed into Russian territory and took part in hostilities within the Kursk region, according to the Kursk Regional Court’s media service. He was captured by Russian forces in an unspecified manner.
A hearing was held behind closed doors because of the sensitive nature of the allegations, which include crimes considered particularly severe.
Lieutenant General Alexander Sanchik. (Undated photo: Gavriil Grigorov / POOL / TASS)
Russia’s military has replaced the commander of one of its six operational groups fighting in Ukraine.
Lieutenant General Alexander Sanchik was reportedly appointed acting commander of Russia’s “South” group of forces. Sanchik succeeds Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, who was removed as part of a “planned rotation,” according to the Defense Ministry.
Pro-war military bloggers reported over the weekend that Anashkin was removed after misleading his superiors about settlements he allegedly claimed were captured near the Ukrainian town of Siversk. Some bloggers claimed the alleged misinformation led to “unjustified losses” on the front lines.
The “South” group has been active in recent weeks near the towns of Kurakhove, Chasiv Yar and Siversk in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. It consists of units drawn from Russia’s Southern Military District.
Sanchik previously attended a 15 May meeting with President Vladimir Putin as acting commander of the Eastern Military District.
A career officer, Sanchik served as deputy commander of the Eastern Military District in 2023 and commanded the district’s 35th Combined Arms Army in 2020. Putin promoted Sanchik to Colonel-General in February 2022, shortly before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In retaliation for expelling the Second Secretary, Whitehall will select a suitable Russian diplomat to be dubiously named Persona Non Grata. As for the young British mercenary, he will no doubt be part of any future prisoner swap Kiev and Moscow conclude. The Zelensky government must demonstrate its loyalty to the International Legion by making James Anderson’s release a priority. Seoul must deliver any powerful weapons to Kiev before the Trump administration can interfere next year. Lastly, if Russian bloggers are correct that Colonel-General Gennady Anashkin caused useless Russian casualties in this horrible war of attrition, his fate is in the hands of a cold-blooded KGB veteran.
This is the first reported avian influenza H5 virus infection in a child in the US. Consistent with previously identified human cases in the US, the child reportedly experienced mild symptoms and received flu antivirals. The child, in Alameda County CA, is recovering and an investigation into the child’s possible H5N1 exposure source is ongoing.
California public health authorities also detected avian flu in raw milk from a produced in Fresno County. No illnesses have been reported and pasteurized milk is safe to drink.
Human infections with bird flu viruses are rare, and no person-to-person spread has been detected in California or the US. Including this most recent case, 55 human cases of H5 bird flu have now been reported in the US during 2024, with 29 in California.
CDC’s risk assessment for the general public is low. However, people with exposure to infected or potentially infected animals, such as birds, dairy cattle, or other animals (including livestock), or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals, are at higher risk of infection.
Americans could be in trouble over the next four years as President-elect Donald Trump’s selections to head the US health agencies have no experience in dealing with public health emergencies and have been pilloried as quacks. If anti-vaccination Robert F. Kennedy Jr is confirmed by the US Senate to become Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), expect American preventable mortality rates to increase.
INTERPOL: Operation Serengeti Nets 1,006 Cyber-Crime Suspects in Africa
Authorities across 19 African countries have arrested 1,006 suspects and dismantled 134,089 malicious infrastructures and networks thanks to a joint operation by INTERPOL and AFRIPOL against cybercrime.
Operation Serengeti targeted criminals behind ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), digital extortion, and online scams.
More than 35,000 victims were identified with cases linked to nearly USD 193 million in financial losses worldwide.
Cyber-crime suspects detained in Angola. (Photo: INTERPOL)
In Kenya, officers cracked a case of online credit card fraud linked to losses of USD 8.6 million. The funds, stolen through fraudulent scripts run after altering the banking system’s security protocol, were promptly redistributed by the group via SWIFT to companies in the UAE, Nigeria, and China. Nearly two dozen arrests have been made so far.
Eight people, including five Chinese nationals, were arrested in Senegal for a USD 6 million online Ponzi scheme affecting 1,811 victims. A search of their apartment uncovered over 900 SIM cards, USD 11,000 in cash, phones, laptops, and copies of victims’ ID cards.
Nigerian authorities arrested a man accused of running online investment scams. He made over USD 300,000 by luring victims through messaging platforms with false promises of cryptocurrency returns.
In Cameroon, authorities arrested a group suspected of trafficking victims from seven different countries to run a multi-level marketing scam. After paying a “membership fee”, victims were promised employment opportunities or training but once in Cameroon, they were held captive and obliged to lure others into the scheme to gain their freedom. Initial estimates show that the group had already pocketed at least USD 150,000 in fees.
Angolan investigators dismantled an international criminal group running a virtual casino in Luanda. The group, which primarily targeted Brazilian and Nigerian gamblers, defrauded hundreds through its online platform, offering a percentage of winnings to members who recruited new subscribers. Some 150 arrests were made, with officers seizing 200 computers and more than 100 mobile phones.
Operation Serengeti was carried out with funding of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the German Federal Foreign Office and the Council of Europe.
Participating countries:
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Operational partners:
Cybercrime Atlas, Fortinet, Group-IB, Kaspersky, Team Cymru, Trend Micro, Uppsala Security
Democrats Ignored Gaza and Brought Down Their Party
By Peter Beinart for The New York Times.
Illustrations and captions added by Coriolanus. We are grateful to him and trust he will appreciate the accents to his finely crafted editorial.
During the presidential campaign, journalists trying to assess the electoral impact of Israel’s war in Gaza often focused on Arab and Muslim voters, particularly in Michigan. That’s understandable. In the heavily Arab-American city of Dearborn, MI, which supported Joe Biden in 2020, results show that Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris by about six percentage points.
But viewing Gaza’s political repercussions merely through the lens of identity misses something fundamental. Over the past year, Israel’s slaughter and starvation of Palestinians — funded by US taxpayers and live-streamed on social media — has triggered one of the greatest surges in progressive activism in a generation. Many Americans roused to action by their government’s complicity in Gaza’s destruction have no personal connection to Palestine or Israel. Like many Americans who protested South African apartheid or the Vietnam War, their motive is not ethnic or religious. It is moral.
Both the 1968 and 2024 Democratic candidates were loyal VPOTUS to their one term predecessors and wanted to continue their policies. And Just like in 1968, nationwide anti-war protests gripped the US in 2024. The 1968 protestors were not pro-South Vietnamese, just as the 2024 protestors were not pro-Hamas. They were both simply anti-war.
The outrage has been particularly intense among Black Americans and the young. This spring, encampments expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people rose on more than 100 college campuses. In February, the Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the nation’s most prominent Black congregations, called the war in Gaza a “mass genocide” and demanded that the Biden-Harris administration stop funding it. In June, the NAACP urged an end to weapons shipments as well. A June CBS News poll found that while most voters over the age of 65 supported arms sales to Israel, voters under the age of 30 opposed them by a ratio of more than three to one. And while only 56 percent of white voters favored cutting off weapons, among Black voters the figure was 75 percent.
Those pre-election polling numbers may explain some of what we saw Tuesday night. Kamala Harris is far more youthful than Joe Biden. Yet, early exit polls — from CNN, The Washington Post, Fox News and The Associated Press — suggest she suffered a sharp decline among voters under the age of 29 compared with Mr. Biden’s result in 2020. Ms. Harris is Black, yet according to CNN and The Washington Post, she did slightlyworse than Mr. Biden among Black voters. One exit poll, from Fox News and The Associated Press, suggests she did significantly worse.
Surely, many young and Black voters were dissatisfied with the economy. Some may have been attracted to Mr. Trump’s message on immigration. Others may have been reluctant to vote for a woman.
But these broader dynamics do not fully explain Ms. Harris’s underperformance, because she appears to have lost far less ground among voters who are older and white. Her share of white voters equaled Mr. Biden’s. Among voters over age 65, she actually gained ground.
Which brings us back to Ms. Harris’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Despite overwhelming evidence that the Democratic Party’s most devoted constituents wanted to end sales of weapons to Israel, the Biden administration kept sending them, even after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel expanded the war into Lebanon. And not only did Ms. Harris not break with Mr. Biden’s policy, she went out of her way to make voters who care about Palestinian rights feel unwelcome. When antiwar activists interrupted a speech of hers in August, Ms. Harris snapped, “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that.” At the Democratic National Convention, her campaign rebuffed a plea from activists to let a Palestinian-American speak from the main stage. And just days before the election, the Harris surrogate Bill Clinton told a Michigan crowd that Hamas had forced Israel to kill Palestinian civilians by using them as human shields.
All this provided Mr. Trump an opportunity. According to The Times, his campaign found that undecided voters in swing states were about six times as likely as other swing-state voters to be motivated by the war in Gaza. Mr. Trump wooed them. He pledged to help “the Middle East return to real peace” and lambasted former Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican with whom Ms. Harris had chosen to campaign, as a “radical war hawk.” Like Richard Nixon, who in 1968 appealed to antiwar voters by promising “an honorable end to the war in Vietnam,” Mr. Trump portrayed himself — however insincerely — as the candidate of peace.
The US has spent a record $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza began in Oct 2023. This is only a partial amount of the US financial support provided during this war.The Gaza Health Ministry said the IDF killed 44,056 people and wounded 104,268 since 7 Oct 2023. The IDF claims 17,000 of these deaths were militants.
For months now, commentators close to the Palestinian rights movement have feared exactly this scenario. In August, the Palestinian American analyst Yousef Munayyer warned that “unless Harris takes some steps to break from Biden’s Israel policy, the same issue that helped tank an already vulnerable Joe Biden with his base could put major obstacles in her path to victory.”
But people who are passionate about Palestinian rights rarely occupy influential positions in Democratic campaigns. For decades, the party’s politicians and operatives have treated the struggle for Palestinian freedom as a taboo. They’ve grown so accustomed to sequestering it from their stated commitment to human rights that, even amid what prominent scholars call a genocide, Ms. Harris thought it wiser to campaign with Ms. Cheney than, say, Representative Rashida Tlaib. Despite overwhelming evidence, her campaign could not see that among progressive voters, the Palestine exception no longer applies.
There is only one path forward. Although it will require a fierce intraparty brawl, Democrats — who claim to respect human equality and international law — must begin to align their policies on Israel and Palestine with these broader principles. In this new era, in which supporting Palestinian freedom has become central to what it means to be progressive, the Palestinian exception is not just immoral. It’s politically disastrous.
For a long time, Palestinians in Gaza and beyond have been paying for that exception with their lives. Now Americans are paying, too. It may cost us our freedom.
Palestinian children queue up for food in Gaza. 90% do not receive enough food daily. (Data and Photo: World Food Program)
Police set up security cameras at a Japanese school after students’ shoes started disappearing and the culprit was ultimately identified as a furry footwear fan — a weasel (itachi イタチ) .
The Gosho Kodomo-en kindergarten in Koga, Fukuoka Prefecture, contacted police for help after 15 shoes vanished from the school in early Nov 2024, and three more were taken the following day.
Police set up three security cameras in the school to catch the culprit in the act.
A single shoe vanished during the night of 11 Nov and police reviewed the captured footage to identify the perpetrator.
The video shows a weasel appearing from behind a wall and raiding the cubbyholes where the children store their indoor shoes. The animal spread shoes across the floor and made off with one item of footwear.
Animal experts said the weasel had likely given birth recently and was using the shoes to line its nest. The school said the cubbyholes are now being covered with netting at night to keep furry thieves at bay.
Japanese weasels were introduced to Sakhalin Island (and other areas of Japan) to help control rodents. Above, an itachi (イタチ) caught a frog for dinner.
Before impact. Beirut’s Shayah neighborhood (Photo: Fadel Itani / UPI)
After impact.(Photo: Fadel Itani / UPI)
Chiyah neighborhood of Beirut (Photo: Fadel Itani / UPI)
A massive Israeli air strike on central Beirut has killed at least 20 people, Lebanese officials say, in the latest attack on the capital amid an escalation of Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah.
The strike happened without warning at about 04:00 (02:00 GMT) on Saturday, and was an attempt to assassinate a senior Hezbollah official, Israeli media reported. The attack was heard and felt across the city, and destroyed at least one eight-story residential building in the densely populated Basta district.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said a so-called bunker buster bomb was used, a type of weapon previously used by Israel to kill senior Hezbollah figures, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Emergency workers used heavy machinery to remove the rubble and retrieve bodies.
More than 60 people had been injured and the number of victims was expected to rise as DNA tests would be carried out on body parts that had been recovered.
“It was a very horrible explosion. All the windows and glasses were over me, my wife and my children. My home now is a battlefield,” said 55-year-old Ali Nassar, who lived in a nearby building.
“Even if one person is hiding here…Should you destroy buildings where people are sleeping inside? Is it necessary to kill all the people for one person? Are we not humans? That’s what I’m asking.”
According to the Israeli public broadcaster Kan, the attack was an attempt to kill Mohammed Haydar, a top Hezbollah official. Hezbollah MP Amin Sherri said none of the group’s leaders were in the building hit, and Haydar’s fate remained unclear.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not commented.
Also on Saturday, the IDF carried out further air strikes on the Dahieh, the area in southern Beirut where Hezbollah is based, saying they were buildings linked to the group.
Israeli attacks have also hit the south, where an Israeli ground invasion is advancing, and the east, where air strikes in the city of Baalbek killed at least 15 people, including four children.
Lebanese officials say a ‘bunker buster’ bomb was used in the devastating strike.
In AKZ-L (Lebanon), more than 3,670 people have been killed and at least 15,400 injured since Oct 2023, with more than one million forced from their homes. With the onset of winter, more innocent and homeless Arabs will die of exposure. The IDF has killed scores of Lebanese medics while destroying the country’s medical infrastructure. PIFWC Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Party have certainly incubated the next two generations of anti-Israelis and antisemites. Netanyahu can’t wait until Donald Trump becomes POTUS next year. But having a Democratic president in the White House these past four years haven’t really stalled or delayed the Likud Party’s plans to ethnically cleanse Israel of Palestinians anyway.
The imminent and unholy Repub-Likud alliance in 2025 will also bode poorly again for Iranians and chances of a lasting peace in the Middle East.
Israel: Fanatical Settlers Attack IDF Major-General Avi Bluth in West Bank
This past weekend, lunatic Settlers in the West Bank attacked IDF Central Command Major-General Avi Bluth, ludicrously calling him a “traitor” and “Israel hater.”
Head of IDF Central Command Major-General Avi Bluth. He escaped unharmed and must have been shocked to face an intifada from the very citizens he has sworn to protect and defend.
Since Oct 2023, Israeli security forces and fanatical Settlers have killed at least 763 Palestinians in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) to facilitate the seizure of lands and homes by religious zealots. A few of these maniacs possibly like the Settler pictured below have been sanctioned by the Biden Administration.
Palestinian Alice Kisiya (R), whose family land was taken over by armed Israeli settlers, confronts a rabid Settler in the area of al-Makhrour in the occupied West Bank, near Beit Jala, on 22 Aug 2024. (Photo: AFP / Hazem Bader)
The above pictured Israelis celebrate the death of Palestinian resistance leader Yahya Sinwar at a southern kibbutz, 17 Oct 2024. Note the elation on the faces of the celebrants as if this was V-E Day 1945. They are unaware of twice-GOP Presidential candidate NYS Governor Thomas E. Dewey’s famous words, “You can’t shoot an idea with a gun,” as if the IDF killing of one man erases Palestinian nationalism. Urbane Israelis in Ramat Aviv or Haifa wonder how much taxes these kibbutzers pay or whether they ever served in the IDF like them or MG Avi Bluth. (Photo: AP)
Above, Israeli Police officers arrest an ultra-Orthodox Jew as they block a main road during a protest against IDF conscription in Jerusalem, 19 Oct 2017. Israeli police arrested 40 people in protests by a fringe group within Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. (Photo: Ariel Schalit / AP)
Israeli border police stand guard near Orthodox Jews in the Old City’s Christian quarter, after an incident in which Haredi Orthodox Jews spat at a Christian procession carrying a cross through Jerusalem’s Old City in 2023. Israeli police arrested five suspects. (Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews defied COVID regulations. Above, Israeli security forces arrest an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man as they close a synagogue in Jerusalem (Mar 2020). COVID infection rates in ultra-Orthodox communities were markedly higher than the rest of Israel. (Photo: Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images)
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man (L) and a secular man (R) above argue during a protest against the strict religious codes favored by the ultra-Orthodox in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. (Photo: Reuters/Landov)
So, is it any wonder that an IDF Major-General may be attacked by his own people when you see the fanaticism emanating from the religious sectors of Israel? Many military veterans have favorite commanders or generals and Coriolanus is no exception. I can’t imagine being in a security detail or in the entourage of my favorite (unnamed) general under attack by maniacs. Luckily MG Avi Bluth and his staff escaped unharmed.
For years Israel has been undergoing a political civil war between secularists and fundamentalists, ultra-nationalists and peace activists, Sabras and newcomers, Ashkenazis and Sephardics, and Likudniks versus Laborites. So far, the religious right-wing and their coalition have been winning in the kaleidoscope of the Knesset, keeping Israeli Crime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power (for now).
Besides facing an international arrest warrant for war crimes, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will be facing a criminal or Knesset inquiry into his handling of the 7 Oct 2023 surprise attack which killed more than 1,200 citizens and the capture of over 200 hostages.
Passengers Stop Man from Opening American Airlines Plane Cabin Door Mid-Flight
Passengers on American Airlines Flight 1219 stopped a Canadian man who allegedly tried to open the airplane’s cabin door mid-flight by restraining him with duct tape and flex cuffs.
The suspect reportedly told a flight attendant he needed to exit the plane and began acting erratically when he was denied.
The man tried to open an emergency door while the jetliner was airborne.
“He was sitting at the emergency exit and he cracked open the window that was protecting the handle,” reported a passenger. “He ripped down the handle where it exposed some of the emergency exit and all the wind came rushing down.”
“The guy was screaming ‘I want to get out,’” reported a witness.
The unhinged man allegedly assaulted a flight attendant, injuring her wrist and neck.
A passenger sprung into action by restraining the man and securing him with duct tape and flex cuffs provided by the crew. The suspect remained restrained on the floor for the rest of the flight.
After landing, law enforcement and FBI agents boarded the plane to detain the man for a medical evaluation. The flight attendant was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, while the suspect was taken off the plane in a wheelchair.
The FAA and FBI are working together to investigate the incident further. No charges have been filed.
“The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority and we thank our team members and customers for managing a difficult situation,” American Airlines said.
Luckily enough passengers had the wherewithal to overcome and restrain the unhinged man before a catastrophe occurred. Air travel remains one of the safest methods of travel, but occasional incidents like this challenge aviation security experts to come up with non-lethal solutions to neutralize unruly or dangerous passengers without harming innocent people or endangering the flight.
North Korean Defector: NK Soldiers Will Desert ASAP in Ukraine
North Korean supremo Kim Jong-un meets with his loyal and adoring troops in Mar 2024 (Photo: AP)
Entire units of North Korea’s troops fighting for Vladimir Putin will desert as soon as they get to the frontline, a defector has claimed.
Hyun-Seung Lee, spent 3 1/2 years with an artillery and reconnaissance battalion in the early 2000s. His time in the army included training for six months alongside the Storm Corps. Lee says the troops in Russia will be looking to escape the battle in Ukraine “from the beginning.”
Leaked footage shows the North Koreans (AKA “Norks”) training in Russia (Credit: Telegram)
He believes the troops are not ready for the frontline and will be used as “human shields” by Russian soldiers in “meat attacks.”
Kim Jong-un has sent his Storm Corps, the country’s equivalent of special forces, to fight for the Kremlin as his war continues to stall. The 10,000-strong force is set to be used on the battlefield in the coming days as the Russian tyrant looks to claw back Kursk.
Questions have been raised about how well the North Korean soldiers will fight having not seen combat since the Vietnam War and with the units armed, clothed, and led by the Russians.
In one clip the Norks appear to be practicing Russian (Credit: Telegram)
Lee said the young soldiers in North Korea will have been forced to go and they won’t be that committed to the fighting.
He said: “It will be individuals at first, but more like as time passes, I think there’ll be like a larger number of group defections, including officers.”
That’s because, Lee says, the Russians will likely treat them as “expendable” and even more poorly than their own troops.
He said: “Russian soldiers don’t respect them as their fellow warriors and the NORKs will die without any impact.”
North Korean soldiers could be thinking twice about defecting as it could see their families thrown in prison. Pyongyang has a guilty by association policy; if the North’s soldiers are seen defecting by colleagues their families could be put in jail.
Lee said: “They would be socially not respected, there’s criticism [they would face] from the community and organizations.”
High-ranking families would likely face a more severe punishment if authorities knew their relative had fled.
But Lee, whose family fled Pyongyang in 2014, said some families might not even know their brother, son or father are in Russia fighting as North Korea keeps all troop movements secret. The troops will be watched over by a Worker’s Party political officer who will administer two hours of ideological training a day.
Inside North Inside North Korea’s ‘Elite’ Storm Corp Special Forces
The Storm Corps is made of ten units, including a sniper’s unit, a light infantry unit, and a paratroopers unit, according to Lee Hyun Seung.
Lee emphasized they are not comparable to Western special forces. He said North Korea didn’t have the equipment to continually train troops for combat as ammunition and bombs would need replacing.
Instead, they trained “for show” so they could march in parades or for propaganda videos. Lee said those soldiers are drawn from North Korea’s working class and will be ambivalent about fighting for the regime.
The defector added: “They are just seeking food and then they’re seeking career advancement. I’m sure nowadays, these, you know, young soldiers they don’t have like a real loyalty to the regime. They just got order command from the Supreme Commander, and then they have no choice but to, you know, [go] to Russia.”
Ukrainian military intelligence had leaked to the press that a score of North Korean soldiers had already deserted but were soon recaptured by Russian security services. Another report suggested that up to 40 NK troops had been killed in recent fighting in Kursk. Coriolanus posted that the Ukrainian military targeted a Russian command and control center and possibly wounded a North Korean general and other HVTs. The Ukrainians will continue using their PSYOP program to induce defections and undermine the morale of the NORKs while targeting their HVTs. Kiev has less than two months to catastrophically damage the Russian and North Korean armies before Trump takes over the White House and kowtows to Vladimir Putin.
Cluster of Ventura County, CA Farmworkers Diagnosed with Rare Leptospirosis
Ventura County lies west of Los Angeles, CA.
Ventura County public health officials said they’re investigating a rare and potentially severe disease diagnosed in several workers in county berry fields.
In severe cases, the condition can cause kidney damage, liver failure, or meningitis and can be fatal.
Public health officials report the local cases appeared to have emerged between Sep 2024 and Nov 2024. They do not know the exact cause but said farmworkers harvesting or handling berries grown under hoops may be at higher risk of infection.
There are 18 cases, but the numbers are fluctuating. Some of the cases have been confirmed and others are presumed to be leptospirosis.
Farm worker. (Photo: VCStar)
Public health officials said leptospirosis is not considered a risk to the general public as the illness is not spread from person to person and it’s safe to eat berries.
Some patients reported severe symptoms like meningitis, an infection that can cause inflammation of membrane around the brain and spinal cord. Other cases involved mild symptoms like headache and fever.
Public health strongly advised agricultural workers and employers to take precautions to reduce the risk of leptospirosis:
Wear waterproof protective clothing and equipment while working outdoors including gloves, long-sleeved shirts, pants and boots or shoes.
Cover cuts and scratches with waterproof bandaging.
Wash hands, arms and exposed skin thoroughly with soap and water after working in the fields, especially before eating or drinking.
Employers should take measures to keep pest populations under control.
Officials inform that rodents are the most common source of the disease but livestock, dogs and cats can also be infected. People should keep pets away from ponds, lakes and other natural bodies of water and prompt veterinary care for animals that become sick.
The CDC reports that some infected people may have no symptoms. Leptospirosis sometimes occurs in two phases with initial symptoms that improve but are followed by more severe conditions like kidney/liver failure or meningitis.
An estimated one million severe cases of leptospirosis in humans occur every year, causing about 58,900 deaths. The disease is most common in tropical areas of the world but may occur anywhere. Outbreaks may arise after heavy rainfall.
First Freight Train from China Arrives in Afghanistan as Beijing Increases Ties
A direct freight train link between Afghanistan and China was inaugurated this month. (File photo)
The first train carrying goods from China to Afghanistan arrived in Mazar-e Sharif on 23 Nov after crossing through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Kabul reported. The Taliban said 55 containers arrived in Afghanistan after a 22-day journey, marking the inauguration of the first direct train link between China and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The train is expected to take Afghan goods back to China for sale there. Since the Taliban returned to power in Aug 2021, no country, including China, has formally recognized the extremist group — which has been accused of massive rights violations — but Beijing has attempted to increase ties as part of its economic push in the region, includingits Belt and Roadinitiative.
Central Asia Rail Routes Map courtesy of Ansher Global
China, the world’s factory, is also building a massive railway system on the Dark Continent which will connect east and west Africa, a concept the previous European colonial powers never conceived.
China has pledged $75 billion of funding to Africa and her projects have employed tens of thousands of Ethiopians and Djiboutians.
The West is involved in devastating and costly wars while Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative is quietly and peacefully securing China’s future economic hegemony. Beijing will soon have access to critical minerals in Afghanistan needed for the telecommunications and computer manufacturing industries.
Ukrainians are fighting for their very survival from the Kremlin onslaught while the US wastes precious economic and military resources funding Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians while the IDF devastates Lebanon with US-provided weapons. The US already wasted billions of dollars fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan while China invested her time and resources wisely to expand her influence globally while subtly beginning her conquest of space.
Simultaneous Comeuppance for Two Right-Wing Doppelgangers
Brazilian ex-president Jair Bolsonaro (R) and his Floridian doppelganger ex-Congressman Matt Gaetz (L)
Last week Brazil’s federal police charged former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and 36 accomplices of being part of a criminal conspiracy designed to obliterate Brazil’s democratic system through a right-wing coup d’état attempt on 8 Jan 2023. Bolsonaro had proudly described himself as the “Trump of Brazil,” had accelerated the arboricide of the earth’s lings, the Amazon Rain Forest, for the sake of making money.
Among the accused are Bolsonaro’s former spy chief, as well as a cadre of senior defense, foreign affairs, and justice ministers. Also charged are a far-right congressman and blogger.
In a scene quite similar to the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021, Jair Bolsonaro supporters generate chaos in Brasilia, Brazil, by invading the Supreme Court, National Congress, and the Planalto Palace on Sunday, 8 Jan 2023. Mounted police and helicopters helped safeguard democracy. (Photo: Mateus Bonomi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Meanwhile to the north, Bolsonaro’s American junior doppelganger received a concomitant bit of comeuppance. Reactionary Trump acolyte Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) rashly resigned his congressional seat after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him to be his Attorney-General. His annual salary was approximately $174,000. Matt Gaetz, previously arrested on DUI charges in 2008 which his father allegedly influenced the case in his favor, was embroiled in a congressional Ethics Committee investigation and was confident his sins would remain secret from the American public. Joel Greenberg, an accomplice of Matt Gaetz, was already and convicted and sentenced to 11 years for sex trafficking of a minor and a litany of other crimes.
Official Press Release from Ethics Committee (18 June 2024):
“On April 9, 2021, the Committee announced it had initiated a review into allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct”.
For years, Republicans successfully prevented the release of the damaging investigation findings of Congressman Gaetz’s alleged peccadillos and acts of moral turpitude. When a reporter from CNN asked Gaetz about reports of a second sexual encounter with a 17-year-old girl, six minutes later Gaetz withdrew his nomination to be President-elect Donald Trump’s next attorney general.
Both right-wing disgraced doppelgangers Jair Bolsonaro and MAGA militant Matt Gaetz are considered innocent of all charges and accusations until both defendants are proven guilty in their respective courts of law.
“The moral arc of the university is long, but it bends towards justice.”
Lebanese girls run for cover after Israel’s attack on Ras al-Nabaa, Beirut (Photo: Adnan Abidi / Reuters)
The Israeli Death Forces (IDF) continue murdering Lebanese medical personnel, a clear and blatant violation of the Geneva Convention and Laws of War. At least 3,481 people have been killed and 14,786 wounded in IDF attacks against AKZ-L.
In addition to destroying Lebanon’s medical infrastructure, the IDF is annihilating ancient sites and ruins. 300 prominent cultural and archaeological experts petitioned UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay to listing Lebanese cultural sites under “enhanced protection“.
They urge UNESCO to protect Baalbek and other heritage sites by establishing “no-target zones” around them, deploying international observers and enforcing measures from the 1954 Hague Convention on cultural heritage in conflict.
Above, Palestinian children line up for food in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip, on 17 Oct 2024. The UN warns of an imminent famine in Gaza this winter. When civilians die of starvation, disease, or untreated wounds, this is “NHI”—No Humans Involved. (Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana / AP)
Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, tackling the issue for the first time in excerpts from an upcoming book.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope said in excerpts published on Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an Ashkenazi Jew, issued this statement:
Continuing to provide Israel with the offensive weapons it uses on civilians is morally wrong.
During the five-year long Bosnian Civil War (1991-95), with small arms fire and artillery, Bosnian Serbs exterminated 38,239 Muslim civilians, including killing 8,000 Bosniaks and raping scores of women in the infamous 1995 Srebrenica Massacre.
But the Bosnian Army, which lost 30,000 soldiers in combat, was able to effectively fight back with US aid and mujahadeen volunteers, unlike the Muslims being slaughtered in the AKZ by the Israelis today. Bosnian Serbs suffered counter-atrocities committed by outraged Bosnian Muslims. See figures below for military and civilian casualties from the 1991-1995 Bosnian Civil War.
Above, a heavily armed Bosnian Serb soldier leads his comrades through a field during a combing operation to locate and kill Muslims near Srebrenica (31 May 1993 photo: Reuters)
Above, forensic experts from the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague work on a pile of partly-decomposed bodies found in a mass grave in the village of Pilica. Does the image look familiar? (24 July 1996 photo: AFP)
The Israeli Death Forces (IDF), with precision weapons, drones, SIGINT, satellites, and jets, easily surpassed the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) war crimes achievement of killing 38,239 Sunni Muslims which took the Serbs four years. Israel has liquidated at least 43,846 Sunni Muslims and wounded 103,740 in Gaza in just over one year. This figure does not include Western journalists, international volunteers, or UN personnel.
Coriolanus initially estimated that the IDF will have liquidated approximately 50,000 Sunni Muslims in AKZ-G by 1 Jan 2025. But at the current IDF murder-death-kill rate, the number will be closer to 45,000 deaths in Gaza as the IDF is shifting its lethality to AKZ-L,exterminating Shias, Sunnis, and Maronite Christians while destroying the Lebanese medical infrastructure.
Bosnian Serbs, convicted for committing war crimes by the ICTY, must be scratching their heads flabbergasted, wondering why they were punished for killing Muslims wholesale but the Israeli Death Forces have carte blanche to do the same with impunityin the Middle East.
US Reportedly Allows Ukraine to Strike Russia with Long-Range Weapons
A US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) being launched. These weapon systems have a 300 km range. (AP file photo)
President Joe Biden’s administration has lifted restrictions that have prevented Ukraine from using American-provided weapons to strike deeper inside Russian territory.
It was not immediately clear how far-reaching such permission would be. This represents a major shift in US policy amid long-standing pleas by Kiev to allow such actions.
Ukraine would likely utilize ATACMS rockets (pictured above).
The US administration has been seeking ways to shore up support for Ukraine ahead of Biden’s departure on 20 Jan 2025 when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. This sends a message to the Kremlin that the US and Kiev are no going to sit around and wait for Trump.
Ukraine’s targeting priorities will likely be in Russia’s Kursk region, using them to strike command-and-control sites, arms depots, artillery batteries, and airfields.
The latest decision by Biden is likely in response to North Korea sending thousands of troops to Russia amid reports that some have already engaged in fighting in Russia’s Kursk region.
The Kremlin has warned that the allowance by the US or other Western allies to use long-range weapons targeting Russia would be seen as a major escalation.
Since its February 2022 full-scale invasion, Russia has used its long-range weapons and warplanes to attack deep inside Ukraine, hitting civilian and infrastructure sites along with military targets.
After Russia launched one of its largest air strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure on 17 Nov, all Ukrainian regions will experience temporary restrictions on power consumption as winter sets in.
The latest Russian attacks were condemned by the EU, NATO, and other Western allies. Germany announced they were sending more air defense systems to Ukraine following the massive Russian drone attack.
North Korean soldiers conducting military training in an undisclosed location. (Photo: KCNA/Reuters)
Knocking out the North Korean cannon-fodder at cantonment areas may be an option for the UAF to de-moralize them and cause mass desertions. Ukraine has approximately two months to make battlefield gains and punish Russia before Trump takes office and kowtows to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kiev will want to negotiate from a position of strength next year. From a personal/professional perspective, CIA and DIA personnel may warn their colleagues in Ukraine’s intelligence services of which USIC personnel harbor pro-Trump/pro-Kremlin sympathies. The HUR will deal more with their NATO partners for intelligence-sharing and operations.
US Confirms First Case of Aggressive Strain of Mpox
The US is the sixth country outside of Africa to confirm a case of the strain, called clade I, since Aug 2024. A California man recently returned from a trip to eastern Africa.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral infection that causes painful lesions, often accompanied by flu-like symptoms. It is classified into two distinct groups: the more aggressive strain, clade I, and a somewhat milder strain, clade II.
Clade II was behind the global outbreak in 2022, which resulted in at least 32,000 infections and 58 deaths in the US.
The US has an adequate supply of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine, which is available to men who have sex with men and other high-risk groups. The Department of Health and Human Service informs that two doses of the vaccine or a previous infection should protect against severe illness from clade I.
The US administered approximately 1.2 million vaccine doses from May 2022 to Jan 2023. Health officials want to expand that coverage, since just 23% of the population at significant risk has been fully vaccinated.
Mpox typically starts with a rash that progresses to small bumps on the skin, followed by fluid-filled blisters that eventually scab over. People may also experience a fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy or swollen lymph nodes.
Some people infected by clade II in the US have described the lesions as exceedingly painful. They have historically appeared on the face, chest, palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, but during the 2022 outbreak, people developed lesions around the genital and anal region or inside the mouth and throat.
China: Student Kills Eight, Wounds 17 in Mass Stabbing After Failing Exams
The Wuxi stabbing incident comes days after a car drove into a group of people outside a sports centre in China’s southern city of Zhuhai, killing 35 people. (Photo: Ng Han Guan / AP)
Eight people were killed and 17 others injured when a 21-year-old former student went on a stabbing spree at a vocational college in China’s eastern city of Wuxi on Saturday evening.
The knife attack took place at the Wuxi Vocational College of Arts and Technology, in eastern Jiangsu province. The 21-year-old suspect, surnamed Xu, was apprehended at the scene and confessed to the attack.
Local police said Xu had failed his examinations and could not graduate, and that he was dissatisfied with his pay at an internship. According to preliminary investigations, he decided to vent his frustrations by attacking others.
Videos circulating on western social media platforms including X showed injured people lying on the street after the attack while others rushed to help. A keyword search on Chinese social media platform Weibo turned up no related videos or images of the attack.
The incident comes days after a driver rammed his car into groups of people outside a sports center in the southern city of Zhuhai, killing 35 people and injuring 43 others.
Two years ago, a 48-year-old man who unleashed a knife attack on a kindergarten. Three people were killed and six injured in the stabbing incident in China’s Jiangxi province.
The “world’s factory” is a pressure cooker. Psychological and mental health conditions are having an ever-growing impact on the Chinese society. Substantial changes to the country’s social fabric in the past decades, economic pressure, and inequality all increased the burdens on people’s mental well-being. Estimates show that the number of patients suffering from mental disorders in China surpassed 160 million in 2019, ranking the country as one of the most affected by mental health-related diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s strict containment measures and their subsequent impacts on daily lives further escalated the risk of mental health problems among its citizens.
Had this lunatic an assault weapon like in the US, there would have been much more deaths and injuries. Knives are the choice of weapon for lone actor maniacs in China because of the inaccessibility of firearms.
Family members, co-workers, relatives or classmates may be reluctant to inform authorities of someone they suspect may become unhinged or they may not recognize the symptoms. China can expect more such horrific incidents as the number of mentally ill people rise and the government unable identify and treat all of the patients, even with their penetrating and enormous surveillance system. China has 1,418,100,510 people and 2,098 psychiatric hospitals to treat them.
American Warzone: Two KIA, Ten WIA in Shootings Near New Orleans Parade
Two people were killed and ten others were wounded in a pair of shootings on Sunday linked to a New Orleans second line parade, prompting police to shut down the event.
The shootings occurred within about a 45-minute span Sunday afternoon along the route of the second line parade organized by the Nine Times Social Aid & Pleasure Club.
The first shooting was reported at 3:38 PM and wounded nine people. The second occurred 45 minutes later, killing two people and wounding one.
No weapons from either shooting have been recovered, and it was unknown if the incidents were connected.
America is a warzone like pictured above and Louisiana leads the nation with gun violence with the third-highest rate in the US. In an average year, 1,153 people die and 3,345 are wounded by firearms. Louisiana has the 6th-highest societal cost of gun violence in the US at $3,085 per resident each year. Gun deaths and injuries cost Louisiana $14.3 billion each year, of which $457.6 million is paid by taxpayers.
Shin Bet Allegedly Warned Benjamin Netanyahu of 10/7 Attack Hours Before It Began
Indicted war criminals Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (C) at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv receiving security assessment on 8 Oct 2023. (GPO)
At 2:58 AM on 7 Oct 2023, the Shin Bet allegedly forwarded a warning about unusual Hamas cellular phone activity, interpreted as preparations for a potential attack. The information was passed to the national security council, which reports to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Instead of arousing an alert and defensive measures, the warning was ignored. Egyptian intelligence (EGIS) had previously warned Israel about an imminent “terrible operation,” but had no granularity to provide specific details.
Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, 6 Nov 2022. (Photo: Moshe Shai / Flash90)
Shin Bet agency chief Ronen Bar arrived at the Tel Aviv HQ early the morning of 7 Oct 2023, received updated information about a suspicious occurrence in the Gaza Strip area, and held security consultations. A dedicated team dubbed “Tequila” was then deployed to the Gaza area as an advance force to investigate the unusual information. Armed Palestinian groups soon began their offensive to seize Israeli hostages in order to trade them for Palestinians being held without trial or hearing in indefinite security detention. Amnesty International estimates that up to 2,000 Palestinians, like the young man below, were being held prisoner and being tortured or abused prior to 7 Oct 2023 with no hope of release.
IDF soldiers abusing Palestinian man in Hebron, the West Bank, who allegedly resisted arrest for the simple crime of being Palestinian.(Photo: 22 Sep 2016, Reuters)
Days after 7 Oct 2023, the Prime Minister’s Office stressed that PM Benjamin Netanyahu had not received an early warning regarding the surprise attack and only at 6:29 AM with the outbreak of fighting did he receive an initial update on the situation.
Palestinians ride on an IDF vehicle taken from an IDF base overrun by muqawama fighters near the Gaza Strip border, 7 Oct 2023. (Photo: Abed Abu Reash / AP)
The Shin Bet and IDF chiefs each publicly took responsibility for their failures after the surprise attack that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and 250 hostages seized. But Netanyahu, as is characteristic of him, did everything he could to avoid responsibility. He used the 7 Oct attack to implement his plans to de-populate the Gaza Strip and destroy southern Lebanon and its medical infrastructure to make the area absolutely inhospitable to Lebanese Shias. While the world watched the horrors of the Gaza Nakba, Israeli settlers continued their pogrom against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Though it’s possible the warning was transmitted to a senior PMO official, rather than directly to Netanyahu, given the seriousness of the matter it seems inconceivable the PM wouldn’t have been immediately informed.
Netanyahu, already embroiled in a bribery and corruption case, has also been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague for war crimes (along with ex-DM Yoav Galland). He desperately does not want a commission of inquiry into the events of 7 Oct 2023, similar to the US 9/11 Commission Report. Netanyahu (and Russian President Vladimir Putin) are also licking their lips at the prospect of a right-wing Trump presidency only months away.
‘This is Life or Death’: Former HHS Sec. Kathleen Sebelius Says Trump’s RFK Jr. Nomination May ‘End Up Killing People’
Make America Healthy Again: Pictured above are the Judas Goats ready to lead their fellow Americans to the Promised Land of an abattoir. Notorious anti-vaccination proponent RFK Jr (R) is enjoying McDonald’s with America’s new rulers.Photo: Social media.
Republican, evangelical, and conservative opinion makers encouraged scoffing at COVID prevention measures. Some of those fanatics themselves perished of COVID, like Meat Loaf front-man and Trump acolyte Michael Lee Aday (pictured below).
The Republican Party seems to somehow benefit from useless American deaths from either non-vaxxing, business de-regulation, lack of medical insurance, military misadventures, or insane gun laws. An average 42,000 people die every year from gun violence. During the 2024 campaign, the Trump/Vance response to US school shootings was “get over it” or “it’s a fact of life.”
A significant number of preventable COVID deaths occurred under President Trump’s first administration because people refused to wear masks, get vaccinated, or avoid large crowds. People were identified as COVID “super-spreaders,” including then-President Trump who was called out as “America’s Dracula” on national TV.
Are the majority of lawyers who handle the estates of deceased people in probate court Republicans? Are the majority of funeral parlor owners in the US Republicans? Are the majority of health insurance company CEOs Republicans? Are the majority of firearms company CEOs Republicans?
A select sector of the US economy simply benefits from useless American deaths which will continue unabated and no doubt increase under the Trump regime.
Moreover, an MIT study informed that a large portion of America’s older population has very little savings in bank accounts, stocks and bonds, and dies “with virtually no financial assets” to their names. Approximately 46% of senior citizens have less than $10,000 in financial assets when they die. Most of these people rely almost totally on Social Security payments as their only formal means of support.
The Ukrainian military has confirmed that it is pulling out of the strategic city of Vuhledar as Moscow continues its grinding offensive. Vuhledar, a deserted former mining town with a prewar population of some 14,000, has been at the center of ferocious battles since the start of Russia’s unprovoked invasion in Feb 2022. Russian Telegram channels posted videos of troops waving the Russian flag over shattered buildings.
Russian forces used repeated attacks on the flanks of Vuhledar to exhaust the Ukrainian defenses, threatening to surround the hilltop city. Although razed, this location is strategically important for Russia to protect its supply routes. Vuhledar could also act as a springboard toward Pokrovsk, a communications hub some 80 km to the north that Moscow has been eying for months.
Moscow’s troops, overwhelmingly superior in numbers and equipment, have been slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine despite huge losses, as Ukraine has been desperately appealing to its Western allies to provide it with more advanced weapons and give it permission to strike military objectives deeper inside Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s critically important Danube port of Izmayil was again targeted by waves of Russian drone strikes that raised the alarm in neighboring NATO member Romania. Izmayil, on the border with Romania, is Kiev’s only gateway to exporting its grain and other produce. Two people, including a Turkish citizen, were wounded in the attack.
Vladimir Putin is waging war against grain and global food security to disrupt the Western and Ukrainian economies. As previously reported on Coriolanus, the Kremlin recently ordered jets to attack a cargo ship carrying Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea to Egypt.
Azerbaijani Opposition Figure Brutally Murdered in France
Vidadi Isgandarli (undated web screenshot).
Vidadi Isgandarli, an Azerbaijani opposition figure in exile well-known for his fierce criticism of the government, has died in France after being brutally beaten and stabbed in an attack at his apartment that his family says was politically motivated.
The deadly attack on Isgandarli follows a similar pattern of violence against Azerbaijani opposition figures in exile; in 2021, another politician in exile, Mohammad Mirzali, survived being stabbed.
“My brother had no idea who the attackers were or what motivated the assault…. They did not speak, and they wore masks, making it impossible to identify them,” said Oktay Isgandarl.
“I have no doubt this is a politically motivated assassination. My brother survived a previous attack by approximately 15 assailants in 2022 here in France.”
Oktay Isgandarli said he received a desperate video call from his brother early on 29 Sep as he clutched a pillow to his abdomen to try and staunch the bleeding after being attacked by three masked men who had broken into his apartment in Mulhouse in eastern France.
Vidadi Isgandarli was stabbed at least 21 times in the abdomen as well as blows to the body and head.
Medics managed to resuscitate him, but he never regained consciousness and succumbed to his injuries on 1 Oct.
Vidadi Isgandarli was known as a vocal critic of the Azerbaijani government and President Ilham Aliyev, who has maintained a tight grip on power since 2003. Azerbaijani Supremo Ilham Aliyev gestures as he addresses the nation in Baku, Azerbaijan, 20 Oct 2020. Israel supplied Azerbaijan with nearly 70% of its arsenal between 2016 and 2020 — giving Azerbaijan an edge against Armenia and boosting Israel’s large defense industry.Aliev has also been deepening ties with Vladimir Putin.(AP Photo)
In 2010, Vidadi Isgandarli participated in parliamentary elections, which he denounced as fraudulent after opposition candidates failed to get elected. He then helped organize protests against the official election results.
Arrested in 2011 and charged with various offenses, including assault and interference with election officials, Vidadi denied the allegations, claiming they were politically motivated.
He was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison but was released early in Dec 2012 in a presidential amnesty. Fearing further persecution, Vidadi, his brother, and their families emigrated to France in 2015.
With Azerbaijan set to host the climate conference COP29 in November, right groups have said it is imperative that the event is used also to shine a spotlight on the country and the deteriorating human rights situation there.
Amnesty International and other human rights groups had documented the “widespread abuse” by the Azerbaijani authorities of the criminal justice system to crack down on human rights including the right to freedom of expression, often “detaining and falsely charging their critics with economic crimes.”
Editorial cartoon on the 2015 Baku European Games from Meydan TV (Image: Meydan TV)
These cowardly murderers took advantage of world attention being focused on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and Russia’s campaign against Ukraine to eliminate this political opponent of the Aliev regime which has been in power for 21 years. The Amnesty International report contains several instances of political opponents being bullied or imprisoned on fabricated charges. The Aliev regime has the wealth and security apparatus, the DTX, to maintain power and target opponents at home and abroad. The petroleum industry in Azerbaijan produces about 873,260 barrels (138,837 m3) of oil per day and 29 billion cubic meters of gas per year as of 2013.[1]Azerbaijan is one of the birthplaces of the oil industry. This attack is reminiscent of the brutal 2018 murder and butchery of political dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, which was directly linked to Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman.
CIA Makes It Easier for Potential Informants to Share Tips
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) wants to make it easier — and safer — for people in Iran, China, and North Korea to share information with America’s premier spy agency.
CIA posted online instructions in Korean, Mandarin, and Farsi detailing steps that potential informants can take to contact US intelligence officials without putting themselves in danger.
The instructions include ways to reach the CIA on its public website or on the darknet, a part of the internet that can only be accessed using special tools designed to hide the user’s identity. The CIA posted similar instructions in Russian two years ago following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“People are trying to reach out to us from around the world and we are offering them instructions for how to do that safely,” the agency said in a statement. “Our efforts on this front have been successful in Russia, and we want to make sure individuals in other authoritarian regimes know that we’re open for business.”
The tips, presented in text-only videos and infographics, include using a virtual private network, or VPN, to circumvent internet restrictions and surveillance, and the use of a device that can’t easily be traced back to the user. The CIA also urged any potential informants to use private web browsers and to delete their internet history to cover their tracks.
The messages in the three languages were posted on Telegram, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Several of those platforms are blocked in China, Iran, and Russia but can still be accessed using a VPN.
Authoritarian leaders around the world have used the internet as a tool of mass surveillance and as a way to deliver propaganda and disinformation while blocking sites and views deemed unfavorable to the government.
China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran all block access to American platforms like Facebook, for example, and use web access to control which sources of information users can access.
VPNs and other tools offer ways around this censorship and surveillance, but that ability has made them a target. In its instructions to potential sources, the CIA warned its audience to be selective, as their well-being could depend on choosing the right program.
“Use a VPN provider not headquartered in Russia, Iran, or China, or any other country that is considered unfriendly to the US,” CIA wrote in its instructions for Mandarin users.
This system apparently worked with informants operating in Russia. For the technologically savvy who are confident of remaining undetected, this method may provide the USIC with useful information from Iran, China, and North Korea. Of course, the information would be evaluated for quality and access. For years Wikileaks has used a system to allow people to anonymously download information without detection.
Denmark: Three Arrested Following Explosions Near Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen
Security personnel inspect the site of two explosions near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Wednesday. Police are conducting initial investigations at the scene of two blasts for a possible connection to the Israeli embassy located in the area, Copenhagen police said on social media platform. No injuries were reported in the incident, the police added. Photo by Emil Helms/EPA-EFE.
Police in Denmark arrested three people Wednesday following a pair of explosions overnight near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, probably two hand grenades. There were no injuries or damage to the Israeli facility.
The first suspect was arrested within the Danish capital before two others were taken into police custody on a train at Copenhagen Central Station. The three suspects are Swedish males between the ages of 15 and 20 years old. The pair of explosions occurred at around 3:20 AM at the intersection of Strandagervej and Lundevangsvej near the Israeli embassy in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen. Police said they had launched an investigation to see if the explosions were in relation to the Israeli embassy.
Israel’s offensive against the Palestinians and Lebanon with the increasing death toll has resulted in growing criticism and anger directed toward the Middle Eastern country. Last month, German police shot and killed an armed man near Munich’s Israeli embassy after he opened fire on security forces. In June, a man with a crossbow attacked police outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.
Meanwhile, Israel continues pounding Lebanon. At least six people have been killed and eight wounded in Israeli air strikes targeting central Beirut overnight. A further 46 people were killed and 85 injured in IDF attacks across Lebanon in the previous 24 hours. More than 1,900 people have been killed and about 9,000 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting, with most of the deaths occurring in the past two weeks.
Destruction at the site of an overnight Israeli air raid on the Bir el-Abed neighbourhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs on 1 Oct 2024 [Anwar Amro/AFP]
As written here on Coriolanus, Israel and the West will be dealing with asymmetric reprisals, ranging from rank amateurish like this hand grenade episode to highly professional attacks, because of the Likud government’s brutal campaign against the Palestinians and its offensive against Lebanon. Innocent Jews and Israelis, who may be Labor Party members or peace activists like the young woman on the left seated next to Greta Thunberg below, are vulnerable worldwide thanks to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The right-wing in Israel and the West will denounce attacks like this hand grenade folly with the standard lines that it’s “antisemitism,” when it’s really an anti-Likud gesture and an expression of anger and frustration that people of a darker color and a different religion should be killed so easily in the name of “self-defense.”
Israel Bars UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from Country
Israel Wednesday banned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country because in Israel’s opinion he was not sufficiently unequivocal about condemning Iran’s missile attack on Israel. After Iran’s attack Tuesday Guterres condemned the escalation of violence in the Middle East and called for it to stop. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Israel Wednesday banned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country, citing his comments immediately following Iran’s attack on Tel Aviv..
“I decided today to declare UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres an undesirable personality in Israel and to ban his entry into Israel,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X. “Anyone who is unable to unequivocally condemn Iran’s criminal attack on Israel, as almost all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israel’s soil.”
Tuesday Guterres said in a statement after Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel, “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely need a cease-fire.”
Guterres added, “An all-out war must be avoided in Lebanon at all costs, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be respected.”
Katz alleged that Guterres “has not yet denounced the massacre and sexual crimes committed by the murderers of Hamas on 7 Oct, and has not led to decisions to declare them a terrorist organization.”
In Oct 2023 in remarks at the UN Security Council, Guterres said, “I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 Oct acts of terror by Hamas in Israel.”
“Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets,” he said at the time.
In his Oct 2023 remarks, Guterres cited Israeli occupation in the West Bank:
“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” he said. “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”
In remarks before the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Guterres said the “deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence must stop.”
“The events of the past week, the past month and indeed nearly the past year make it clear: It is high time for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, with the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, the effective delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and irreversible progress to a two-state solution,” Guterres said. “It is high time for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, real action towards full implementation of Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1701, paving the way for diplomatic efforts for sustainable peace.”
“It is high time to stop the sickening cycle of escalation after escalation that is leading the people of the Middle East straight over the cliff. Each escalation has served as a pretext for the next.”
Guterres told Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati that the entire UN system in Lebanon is mobilized to assist all those in need in the country as Israel continued it military attacks on Hezbollah.
As it attacked Hezbollah, Israel has also killed civilians with its attacks and has forced dislocation of civilian residents in the country. Guterres said the UN will continue efforts to de-escalate the situation.
Katz said in his statement Wednesday that the global terrorism of Iran will be remembered as a “forever blot in the history of the UN.”
Guterres maintains that the UN must demand that all parties uphold and respect obligations under international law, including how warfare and occupation are conducted.
Katz’ X statement Wednesday said, “Israel will continue to protect its citizens and maintain its position and national honor with or without Antonio Guterres.”
Israel and the UN have clashed over the role of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief. Israel accused several of the agency’s staff of being involved in the 7 Oct 2023 attack on Israel.
That surprise attack killed hundreds of Israelis, including civilians as well as military personnel, when armed Palestinians gunmen crossed into Israel from Gaza. These gunmen kidnapped hostages in order to conduct a prisoner swap with Israel as over 7,000 Palestinians have been held in military detention without trial or hearing. Israel massively attacked Gaza in response to the 7 Oct attacks.
Guterres has not yet publicly responded to being banned from Israel nor should he dignify this childish edict.
The Israeli government has a long, rich tradition of ignoring UNSC Resolutions. Former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon is depicted above bullying UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. This cartoonist caricaturized Ariel Sharon as a pig with hooves and a tail.Note the bottom of Ariel Sharon’s hoof is (regrettably) an American flag. Since 2023, over 300 aid workers have been killed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This diplomatic blunder by Israel should not surprise anyone. Bullies and authoritarian regimes exercise censorship tactics to prevent a counter-narrative inimical to their position. Mr. Guterres will probably not personally respond to this idiotic measure taken by the Israeli Foreign Minister. A member of the Likud Cabinet had previously called for another “nakba” against the Palestinians and another lunatic minister advocated the use of a nuclear device against the Gazans. The Likud government was more upset of a leaked video showing IDF soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian man, not at the unforgivable crime of rape perpetrated by those Israeli miscreants. That grim episode was posted here on Coriolanus. Both the Israeli Prime and Defense Ministers have been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague for war crimes.
68 Dangerous California White Supremacists from “SFV Peckerwoods” Gang Indicted
The letters SFV for the Peckerwoods gang signify “San Fernando Valley” and the acronym of “Searching for Victims.”
A massive law enforcement sweep targeting the SFV Peckerwoods, what federal prosecutors call a San Fernando Valley based white supremacist street gang has led to the arrests of 42 members of the racist criminal organization.
A total of 68 alleged members of the SFV Peckerwoods were named in a 76-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday that details a litany of crimes related to what prosecutors call a “years-long pattern of racketeering activity that included trafficking of drugs — including fentanyl — illegal firearms possession, and COVID-19 benefits and loan fraud.”
A massive cache of guns and drugs was seized by the Joint Terrorist Task Force in sweeps targeting the SFV Peckerwoods, a violent white supremacist street gang. Photo: Department of Justice
Of those caught up in a series of federal and local law enforcement sweeps, twelve alleged Peckerwood members were hit with federal racketeering charges, while another 56 defendants were charged with conspiring to distribute drugs. Another 13 defendants were already behind bars.
The Peckerwoods use Nazi tattoos, graffiti, and iconography to indicate their violent white supremacy extremist ideology. Among the monikers its members use include nicknames like “Bezerker,” “Rascal,” “Monster,” and “Meat,” while inked with “tattoos and iconography” that “include swastikas, the symbol “88”, used by violent white supremacy extremists as code for “Heil Hitler”, and images of Nazi aircraft.”
The gang has a large number of females, who call themselves “Featherwoods,” including “SFV Mama,” whose real name is Claire Patricia Haviland, who was among those arrested Wednesday.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized large quantities of illegal firearms, and dozens of pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, according to the indictment. The AUSA aid “the Peckerwoods’ violent white-supremacist ideology and wide-ranging criminal activity pose a grave menace to our community. By allegedly engaging in everything from drug-trafficking to firearms offenses to identity theft to COVID fraud, and through their alliance with a neo-Nazi prison gang, the Peckerwoods are a destructive force. In prosecuting the members of the Peckerwoods criminal organization, our office is carrying out its mission to protect the public from the most dangerous threats.”
When these dangerous maniacs are convicted, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will no doubt incarcerate them at separate maximum security facilities throughout the US to prevent them from re-organizing behind prison walls. But these miscreants will join the Aryan Brotherhood, Proud Boys, or other neo-Nazi white supremacist gangs in federal prison.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
A salmonella outbreak linked to reptiles has left one person dead and three others hospitalized in Canada. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said at least 25 people have been infected across seven provinces in this outbreak, which is the second one linked to geckos in 2024.
Cases have been reported in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
“Many of the individuals who became sick reported having direct or indirect contact with geckos, or the environments where these pets are kept, before their illnesses occurred,” the PHAC announced.
“Some people who became sick did not touch or handle the geckos themselves, but lived in the same house where they were kept.”
The illnesses occurred between Aug 2020 and Sep 2024. Most of the people infected were females (64 per cent) and in the age range 1 to 103.An investigation into the outbreak is ongoing and PHAC said that the number of cases is likely higher than what has been reported so far.
Salmonella is a bacterial infection commonly transmitted through contaminated food and water and it poses a significant health threat, especially to children and older adults, as it can lead to severe gastrointestinal symptoms, dehydration, and, in extreme cases, death.
People can also get sick with salmonella infection by directly touching reptiles or their environments, as well as through indirect contact by touching contaminated surfaces where these animals are kept.
always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water immediately after touching a reptile or rodent, and anything they eat, or after being in the area where they live, play or touch
if visiting an exhibit or event with reptiles, wash your hands when you leave animal areas, even if you do not touch the animals directly
clean any surfaces or objects your reptile or rodent touches with soapy water followed by a household sanitizer
never kiss a pet reptile
always supervise children when they touch or play with reptiles
keep reptiles and rodents and all their food, containers, enclosures, and any objects that have been in their enclosures, such as plants or enrichment items, away from the kitchen and other places where food is made or eaten
clean or bathe reptiles in a dedicated plastic bin, not in the kitchen or bathroom sink
Symptoms of salmonella infection typically start between six and 72 hours after exposure and can last anywhere from four to seven days. They may include fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, or abdominal cramps.
If you suspect you have salmonella, PHAC recommends seeing a health-care provider. Most people recover on their own after a few days without any medical treatment.
At least 36 people got sick with salmonella infection between March 2020 and March 2024 in a separate outbreak linked to geckos. The salmonella strain of that outbreak was traced back to a gecko habitat at a home of a person who was infected.
Politico legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney shared his immediate takeaways on the 165-page document Smith filed in a Washington DC federal court.
In the filing, Smith asserts his case against the former president within the context of the Supreme Court ruling that Trump enjoyed partialpresidential immunity in the lead-up to the US Capitol riots on 6 Jan 2021.
Smith argues Trump can still be tried on election interference charges as he acted as a private citizen seeking personal gain and not a US official seeking to protect the integrity of national elections.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to those charges and contended Wednesday, as he has in the past, that Smith is mounting a political witch hunt.
1) A Trump campaign employee sought to foment chaos at the TCF Center in Detroit where ballots were being processed.
“When a colleague at the TFC Center told [redacted] ‘We think [a batch of votes heavily in Biden’s favor is right, [redacted] responded, “find a reason it isn’t,” “give me options to file litigation,” and “even if itbis [sic],” the filing reads.
“When the colleague suggested that there was about to be unrest reminiscent of the Brooks Brothers Riot, a violent effort to stop the vote count in Florida after the 2000 presidential election, [redacted] responded, ‘Make them riot’ and ‘Do it!!!'”
2) Trump sidelined his campaign legal team on 13 Nov and put Rudy Giuliani in charge because he was willing to lie about the election results.
“As the defendant placed alternating phone calls to [redacted] and [redacted] throughout 13 Nov [redacted] informed [redacted] , another private Campaign advisor, of the change,” the filing states, “writing, “Close hold don’t tell anyone Trump just fired [redacted] and put [redacted] in charge.”
3) Vice President Mike Pence told Trump he saw no evidence of fraud over the course of many conversations detailed in his book and cited by prosecutors.
“In the post-election time period, Pence, the defendant’s own running mate, who he had directed to assess fraud allegations told the defendant that he had seen no evidence of outcome-determinative fraud in the election.”
“The defendant disregarded [redacted] and Pence in the same way that he disregarded dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected his and his allies’ legal claims, and that he disregarded officials in the targeted states including those in his own party–who stated publicly that he had lost and that his specific fraud allegations were false.”
4) Trump repeatedly promised to provide election fraud evidence to Govs. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) and Brian Kemp (R-GA) but never did.
“The defendant was on notice that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud in Arizona within a week of the election.”
“The defendant also raised claims of election fraud, and [redacted] asked the defendant to send him supporting evidence. Although the defendant said he would, stating ‘we’re packaging it up,’ he never did.”
5) Mark Meadows and a White House attorney exchanged messages on 3 Dec 2020 confirming that dead voters statistics were false.
“During the hearing, Chief of Staff [redacted] and [redacted] exchanged text messages on their personal phones confirming that a Campaign attorney, [redacted] had verified that [redacted] claim of more than 10,000 dead voters was false and that the actual number was around 12 and could not be outcome-determinative.”
6) A US senator helped facilitate a 8 Dec call between Trump and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
“US Senator [redacted] told [redacted] that the defendant had heard that [redacted] was ‘whipping,’ or lobbying, other state attorneys general against filing amicus briefs in support of Texas.”
“[Redacted] asked [redacted] if he would speak with the defendant about it, and [redacted] agreed.”
Trump supporters heeded his call and stormed the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021. Many of them have now been convicted and incarcerated. VPOTUS Mike Pence did not abandon his duty as Trump wanted; instead, he stayed to certify the election. Photo: Roberto Schmidt AFP via Getty Images
Special Counsel Jack Smith is competent and experienced, having convicted war criminals at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague. Nevertheless, the American electorate should not rely on Mr. Smith, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, NYSAG Letitia James, or any part of the US legal system to stop Donald Trump and Project 2025. The Democratic strategy should be to register voters as many voters as possible and overwhelm Republican ballots so that even GOP voter suppression tactics will be ineffective.
Since 2016, poaching of one-horned rhinoceroses in India’s Assam state has fallen 86% after the government took decisive steps to protect them
By expanding protected areas and bolstering ranger patrols, 3,000 rhinos grace the Assam savannah.
“Rhinos are synonymous with the identity of Assam. They are our pride and the crown jewel of our biodiversity. Ever since we assumed office, we have taken various initiatives to protect the prized species, expand its habitat and ensure its safety,” Assam state’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X.
In India, the Chief Minister, often abbreviated CM, is the equivalent on an American governor, and the state of Assam which Sarma governs is India’s rhino stronghold, with 88% of all the rhinos in the country located in Kaziranga, Manas, and Orang national parks, and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.
The remaining 12% is spread widely across the country. CM Sarma’s tenure which began in 2021 oversaw the addition of nearly 50,000 acres of habitat in Orang National Park, and another 50,000 to two other protected areas.
Last year, GNN reported that for the first time since 1977, zero rhinos were poached in India.
Sarma ordered the rhinos to be treated like “presidents”, with sophisticated police commando teams patrolling the parks with night vision equipment and drones during moonlit nights.
Since then, the population of Assam’s rhinos has grown by 105 to 3,000; up from a low of 600 during the 1960s. The government released these figures on World Rhino Day (22 Sep) to show that “if the will to protect these animals is there, the most poached megafauna species on Earth can thrive.”
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum addresses supporters during a rally in the Zocalo, Mexico City’s main square, on her inauguration day, 1 Oct 2024. Photo: AP
Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in Tuesday as Mexico’s new president, becoming the country’s first female president and the first president of Jewish descent in the largely Roman Catholic country. Her win comes 70 years after women in Mexico won the right to vote. President Sheinbaum is also the first woman to lead a government in North America. Should Kamala Harris win the US election next month, the continent will have two women in charge of their nations, another first.
The daughter of activist academics, Sheinbaum (62) was also the first female mayor of Mexico City, Mexico’s capital. She stepped down from that position last year for her presidential campaign, which had the support of her predecessor and political mentor, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
She has promised to continue the social welfare programs for the country’s poor that Lopez Obrador initiated, despite Mexico’s current massive budget deficit and sluggish economy.
Sheinbaum is also facing a country beset with violence, such as battles between drug cartels that often erupt onto the streets of the northwest city of Culiacan, where many cartels are located. Local security forces have had little luck in quelling the violence.
As mayor of Mexico City, Sheinbaum was applauded for reducing the city’s homicide rate by increasing the salaries of an expanded police force, a strategy she has promised to duplicate across the country.
Sheinbaum is also assuming Mexico’s helm just as the country is implementing a judicial overhaul, a move spearheaded by Lopez Obrador. The controversial reform will eventually replace all of Mexico’s judges with new ones elected by popular vote.
Former President Ernesto Zedillo, who has been critical of the overhaul, said in a recent guest essay in Britain’s Economist magazine that “our hard-won democracy will be transformed, for all practical purposes, into a one-party autocracy.”
Sheinbaum, however, said, “The reforms to the judicial system will not affect our commercial relations, nor private Mexican investments, nor foreign ones. Rather, the opposite. There will be a greater and better rule of law and democracy for everyone.”
The first trip for the new president, a former climate scientist who has a doctorate in energy engineering, will be to Acapulco, the resort on Mexico’s Pacific coast, which was brutalized last week by the rains of Category III Hurricane John, after being devastated last year by Hurricane Otis.
Population of Mexico: 130,739,927; GDP per capita: $22,400 (2023 est.) Data and map: CIA
Russian Forces Execute 16 Ukrainian POWs Near Pokrovsk
In 2022, Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old tank commander, was sentenced to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian in Ukraine’s first war crime trial following Russia’s invasion. He had pleaded guilty to killing a 62-year-old citizen in north-eastern Ukraine. There will be more war crimes trials in the future.PhotoCredit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Russian forces appear to have shot 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Donetsk Oblast, the largest recorded case of mass execution of surrendered soldiers on the battlefield, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on 1 Oct.
Evidence of the execution appeared on social media earlier on 1 Oct. The POWs were reportedly killed after surrendering on the front line near Pokrovsk. The Prosecutor General’s Office said it was verifying the material published online and investigating the circumstances around the case.
The execution of POWs is a “cynical and gross violation of the Geneva Conventions,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
“This is the most massive known case of execution of Ukrainian POWs on the front line,” Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said.
“The murders and torture of prisoners are not an accident, but a purposeful policy of the Russian military and political leadership,” he added.
In early September, Russian forces executed three Ukrainian POWs near Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast. The Prosecutor General’s Office said earlier this year that it was investigating more than 50 cases of execution of Ukrainian POWs.
The US Department of Justice has been investigating Russian war crimes as well. Last year the DOJ charged four Russian soldiers with torture, inhumane treatment, and unlawful confinement of a US national in Ukraine.
Iran Counterattacks Israel on Behalf of Lebanese Hezbollah with Ballistic Missiles
Photo: AP
Iran launched a massive ballistic missile attack at Israel on 1 Oct in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Lebanon’s Hezbollah in a new escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed resistance group.
Israeli air defenses intercepted many of the estimated 180 missiles that were fired, though some landed in central and southern Israel. There were no reports of any injuries and after about an hour after the attack was launched it was safe for them to leave their bomb shelters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack “a big mistake” and said Tehran “will pay for it.” He added: “Whoever attacks us, we attack them.”
US President Joe Biden said he would discuss a response with Netanyahu. Asked what the response would be, Biden replied: “That’s in active discussion right now. That remains to be seen.”
He added that the attack appears to have been “defeated and ineffective, and this is a testament to Israeli military capability and the US military” and said the US is “fully supportive of Israel.”
Israeli police reported that at least six people were killed and nine wounded in a shooting and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv. Police said it was a “terrorist” attack carried out at a light rail station and the two attackers were later killed by civilians and inspectors using their own firearms. There has been no claim of responsibility.
While the missile attack sent Israelis scurrying to take cover in bomb shelters, it prompted people in Iran to celebrate. State television broadcast images from the city of Mashhad showing people in the streets waving the yellow flag of Hezbollah and portraits of the group’s slain chief, Hassan Nasrallah. Similar celebrations also took place in the capital Tehran and in several provincial cities.
World leaders urged Iran and Israel to step back from the brink and negotiate a cease-fire.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East” following fighting in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
To a hammer, everything is a nail as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is demonstrating. He has ignored the entreaties of the UN and world leaders for a cease-fire, as well as the pleas of his citizens to make a deal to release the remaining hostages. The widening conflict will keep Netanyahu’s bribery and corruption trial in abeyance while casualties begin to mount. In this “David versus Goliath” conflict, Israel and her supporters should expect asymmetric attacks or lone-actor reprisals against soft civilian targets, ranging from runamok knife attacks (like in Germany earlier this year), vandalism against synagogues, or bomb threats against Jewish hospitals (like earlier this year in Canada).
Lebanese man stands in remains of a building destroyed by the IDF in Beirut on 1 Oct 2024. The Lebanese economy was already in shambles before the Israeli onslaught. Photo: Fadel Itani / UPI.
A French naval ship is deploying to Lebanon to assist with any evacuations of French citizens. Approximately 23,000 French and Franco-Lebanese residents live in Lebanon. The French embassy in Beirut has established a hotline and started coordinating evacuation options for civilians who wish to leave. Two French nationals have already been killed by the IDF.
Florida Man Found Guilty of Felony Destruction of Property and Other Charges During 6 Jan Capitol Breach
Supporters of then-US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol’s Rotunda on 6 Jan 2021, in Washington, DC. Photo: NBC News.
A federal jury in the District of Columbia found Marcus Smith (47) of Fleming Island, FL, guilty of a felony offense of destruction of government property and several misdemeanor charges during the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Joining the mob that stormed the US Capitol, Smith noticed some rioters trying to breach a locked door inside the building. The defendant joined them in breaking down the door. The Architect of the Capitol later determined that the value of the damage to the door, which was part of the original construction of the Senate Wing of the Capitol and dated back to the 1850s, necessitated the door being replaced at a cost of approximately $21,000.
After further trespassing within the US Capitol, this runamok finally departed at approximately 2:50 PM. The FBI arrested Smith on 26 Jan 2024, in Fleming Island.
This brontosaurus represents America’s Fedayeen Saddam (FS), dead-ender white supremacists clinging on to the last vestiges of white privilege in the US. Marcus Smith is lucky that he wasn’t charged with any crimes of violence against USCP officers. The Honorable US District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich will sentence Smith on 10 Jan 2025.
In the 44 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,504 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 560 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.
US Targets Israeli-Occupied West Bank Settler Violence with Sanctions
Hilltop Youth settlers in West Bank (Photo credit: REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen)
The US sanctioned one informal organization and two people as the Biden administration continues to tighten its financial grip on those it accuses of perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The US Treasury designated Hilltop Youth, an extremist group of West Bank settlers accused of attacking Palestinians and destroying their homes and property. The US government listed Hilltop Youth as a “criminal organization.”
The Treasury said the group of settlers has “conducted a campaign of violence against Palestinians,” which includes killings, arson, assaults and intimidation, with the goal of driving Palestinians out of the West Bank. It conducts what are called “price tag” assaults, which are revenge attacks conducted in reprisal for actions carried out against settlers.
The late author and Israel Prize laureate Amos Oz who was known as: “The humane heart of Israel.”
In 2014, the late Amos Oz condemned the perpetrators of “price tag” attacks, saying “‘Price tag’ and ‘Hilltop Youth’ are cute nicknames for a monster that needs to be called what it is: Hebrew neo-Nazi groups.” Oz went on to say that the only difference between neo-Nazis around the world and those who commit hate crimes in Israel is that “our neo-Nazi groups enjoy the support of numerous nationalist or even racist legislators, as well as rabbis who give them what is in my view pseudo- religious justification.”
The State Department sanctioned Eitan Yardeni and Avichai Suissa, who leads Hashomer Yosh, an Israeli non-government organization the US sanctioned in late August.
Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory and the establishment of settlements are widely viewed as illegal under international law and have attracted the repeated criticism and condemnation of the UN and the wider international community.
The US has been a critic of Israel’s occupation and has said it represents an obstacle to a two-state solution. The Biden administration has sanctioned 27 individuals and entities accused of perpetuating violence there under an executive order that President Joe Biden signed in February.
The Biden administration has used the sanctions to criticize Israel for not doing more to curb violence in the West Bank, while critics have called on the administration to use its sanctioning power against those in the Israeli government who enable the violence against Palestinians.
“The Biden administration imposes more sanctions on settlers for violence against West Bank Palestinians but still hasn’t imposed sanctions on any of the Israeli officials who are encouraging the settler violence,” Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and current visiting professor at Princeton, said on X.
According to an update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there have been some 1,390 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians between the start of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 Oct and 23 Sep.
Of those attacks, 135 involved the killing and wounding of Palestinians, 1,110 saw Palestinian property damaged and about 150 caused both casualties and property damage. The report added that some 1,628 Palestinians, including 794 children, have been displaced by the settler violence. The AP reported that 623 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank.
French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen on Trial for Misusing EU funds
Marine Le Pen sits in the European Parliament, Strasbourg, in Jan 2017. She looks quite pleased with herself. Photo: AP / Jean-Francois Badias
Marine Le Pen, her father, and 25 colleagues – including current and former French lawmakers and MEPs – are accused of embezzling public funds and collusion. Prosecutors claim that the defendants set up a fake jobs scheme using European parliamentary funds to pay for assistants who in fact worked for her National Rally party, formerly called the National Front, rather than on European affairs.
The scheme, which ran from 2004 to 2016, was in breach of EU rules.
The EU Parliament estimated in 2018 that 6.8 million euros had been embezzled. Marine Le Pen has always denied any wrongdoing.
The trial runs through to 27 Nov. If found guilty, Le Pen could face a maximum ten years behind bars and a €1 million fine. That’s unlikely, but she also faces a possible five-year ban on standing for public office. This would rule her out of the 2027 presidential election she is preparing for, and which a recent poll suggests she has a stronger than ever chance of winning.
A total of 11 members of the European Parliament, 12 of their parliamentary assistants and four party collaborators are to be tried as well, while the RN party itself faces charges of concealing the wrongdoing. Among the high-profile figures are Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front, her former partner Louis Aliot – the mayor of the southern city of Perpignan – and RN spokesperson Julien Odoul.
The National Rally is not the only party to be accused of misappropriating MEP funds.
In February this year the centrist MoDem party, currently part of President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble coalition, was fined €350,000 for similar charges.
MoDem’s leader, Francois Bayrou, was acquitted due to reasonable doubt, but the eight people found guilty were ordered to pay fines, sentenced to prison terms of 10 to 18 months and were banned from serving in public office.
German police arrested a Chinese woman accused of spying on the country’s defence industry while working in a logistics company.
Named only as Yaqi X., she allegedly reported to another suspected Beijing agent now under arrest, Jian G., who was working in the office of a German far-right member of the European Parliament, Maximilian Krah. The woman arrested on Monday is “strongly suspected of acting as an intelligence agent for a Chinese secret service.”
Yaqi X. worked for a company that provides logistics services at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany.
She allegedly used her position to gather information on “the transport of military equipment and persons with connections to a German arms company.”
Between mid-2023 and February, she “repeatedly sent information on flights, cargo and passengers at the airport to an employee of a Chinese secret service — namely Jian G., who is being prosecuted separately,” prosecutors said.
Jian G., a German national, was arrested in April on suspicion of spying while working in the Brussels office of German MEP Krah of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Her Leipzig home and workplace were also searched.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann told Bild daily that “the arrest of a suspected Chinese spy in Leipzig shows us once again that foreign intelligence services have long had Germany in their sights.
Citing unnamed security sources, news site Der Spiegel reported that Yaqi X., a 38-year-old, in particular had targeted the arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and which uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights.
Her alleged handler Jian G. was arrested on suspicion of sharing European Parliament information with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany.
The European Union assembly, which had listed Jian Guo as an accredited assistant to Krah, moved to suspend him earlier this year. Krah posted on X at the time that prosecutors had confirmed to his lawyer that he was “not a suspect in the investigation”. The allegations involving China were among a series of controversies to hit Germany’s AfD, including claims that some of its members have links to Russia.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called the allegations against Guo “very serious” and said that, if confirmed, it was “an attack on European democracy from within”.
According to German broadcasters ARD, RBB, and SWR, Guo was no stranger to German intelligence. He had reportedly offered his services as an informer at least a decade ago but was turned away on suspicion he might be a Chinese double agent.
California Wildfires One Million Hectares This Year
Map: FIRMS US / NASA
The total hectares burned in California this year surpassed one million as spiking temperatures Tuesday added to the challenges facing firefighters struggling to contain a stubborn blaze in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles that flared up over the weekend.
Evacuation orders were expanded again Monday for remote communities northeast of Los Angeles as the Line Fire that has been burning for nearly a month spread over nearly 176 square kilometers (68 square miles) of the San Bernardino Mountains, and containment dropped from 83% to 76%.
“The dry vegetation, steep slopes and wind aligned … to create conditions for the rapid fire spread,” according to a statement late Monday from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.
The risk of wildfires increased across California as an autumn heat wave scorched much of the state. Some inland areas could see temperatures up to 20 degrees above average for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service.
San Francisco, where residents typically break out the sweaters in October, could hit 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), while triple digits 38 C were predicted for Sacramento. The weather service office in the state’s capital urged residents to stay indoors during the heat of the day on Tuesday.
Dry, hot winds in the northern part of the state prompted Pacific Gas & Electric to pre-emptively cut power to small clusters of customers in high-risk areas. The utility routinely stops electricity service in counties where weather conditions increase the probability of fires.
In Southern California, the Line Fire’s surge pushed the total hectares burned across the state in 2024 to 405,492 (1,001,993 acres) as of Tuesday morning, according to Cal Fire. The milestone surpasses the total scorched during the same time last year — 118,719 hectares (293,362 acres) — but is roughly on par with the five-year average for the period, the Los Angeles Times reported.
At its height, the blaze threatened more than 65,000 homes in and around the Big Bear Lake area.
A 34-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to starting the Line Fire on 5 Sep. Justin Wayne Halstenberg of Norco, CA, was charged with 11 arson-related crimes.
Firefighters monitor the advancing Line Fire in Angelus Oaks, CA, 9 Sep 2024.
Vietnam: 25 Students Suspected of Poisoning After Drinking Free Soft Drinks; Other Cases of Possible Food Poisoning Reported This Summer
Pediatric patient treated at the hospital. Photo: BVCC
After drinking free soft drinks at the gate of Binh Minh Secondary School, Thanh Oai, 25 students showed signs of poisoning; 12 were hospitalized with headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Physicians suspect food poisoning. Three more serious patients were transferred to Intensive Care, the rest were treated at the Infectious Diseases Department. The children drank free bottled soft drinks outside the school gate. There is no information yet regarding the brand or the ingredients, but the product was distributed for free for advertising purposes.
Authorities recommend that schools in the area, as well as parents, educate their children not to eat snacks outside the school gate and absolutely not to accept food from strangers.
On 21 Sep, 70 people at Primary and Secondary School in Nong Thuong commune, Bac Kan city vomited, had abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, and were hospitalized. The day before, 88 students and five teachers ate rice, fried chicken, vegetable soup with melons, stir-fried potatoes, and watermelon.
The next morning, 20 students appeared with hot fever, abdominal pain, headache, diarrhea, and were admitted to the emergency city health center. The number of sick patients increased to 70 with similar symptoms. The cause is unknown.
On 16 Sep, 34 students of Ton Duc Thang Secondary School in Pleiku drank milk tea at the Mid-Autumn Festival. Within a few hours, 21 students had abdominal pain, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. They received emergency medical treatment and doctors suspected food poisoning.
The City Health Center took food samples for testing to find the cause.
Without further information, these incidents appear to be isolated examples of poor quality control over food and beverage production in Vietnam, and not a sinister plot to murder innocent children.
When an Australian nurse working at a hospital with outdated incubators happened upon a kangaroo rescue center, she realized she could help save lives.
Once used to help save premature human babies, the incubators are now mimicking the conditions of a mother kangaroo’s pouch, where her joey will live for the first eight months of its life.
Every year dozens of orphaned joeys and pinkies, or marsupial pups who haven’t opened their eyes yet, are brought into Kununurra Kangaroo Rescue Haven in East Kimberly, Australia.
Since they are the largest terrestrial animal in Australia, an adult kangaroo rarely has to worry about predators and their populations can balloon quite dramatically. This, unfortunately, renders them much like whitetail deer in the US—at extreme risk of becoming roadkill.
Mandy Watson, director of the Kununurra Haven, has saved hundreds of orphaned joeys from their moms who have been hunted or struck by vehicles. Young, pinky joeys can struggle to survive without the warmth and humidity of their mother’s pouch. She has seen hundreds of orphans return to the wild, but thousands not make it to adulthood.
“In 20 years, we’ve released 823 back into the wild. It’s really hard, especially in the dry season, for us to keep up that constant temperature,” Watson told ABC News Down Under. “The humidicrib (incubator) is going to be a constant temperature that’s going to dramatically help [to] save a few more lives.”
The humidicribs were donated by nurse Jane Darlington, a clinical pediatric nurse at the Kununurra District Hospital. The hospital needed to get rid of them as the rapid march of medical technology had seen them become obsolete.
Darlington got the idea while shopping in town. She saw a volunteer from the rescue center helping to raise awareness of their work by walking around in a wallaby costume, holding one of their orphaned joeys.
Mandy Watson (left) and a volunteer play with some joeys next to their truck-mounted incubator. Photo: Jane Darlington
Coriolanus 
