gaza

At Least 51 Killed, 219 injured in Russian Missile Strike in Central Ukraine

An Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile launcher. Russian forces have been firing such missiles from mobile launchers across the border into Ukraine. (Credit: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA, via Shutterstock)

At least 51 people were killed and 219 were injured on 3 Sep in one of Russia’s deadliest attacks in a single strike since its all-out invasion of Ukraine. Two missiles struck a building of the Military Communications Institute in a morning attack on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine.

The victims didn’t have time to evacuate to a bomb shelter after hearing the air-raid alert. 15 people may still be under the rubble as search teams were continuing to work at the scene.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office announced that it launched an inquiry after President Zelensky ordered a “full and prompt investigation” into what happened.

The attack is believed to be the deadliest single strike since May 2022 when 87 soldiers were killed at a military training center in the northern Cherniv region. Ukraine’s defense readiness came under scrutiny after the strike on Poltava, and some observers questioned why a large number of people were left vulnerable to a single attack.

Vladislav Seleznev, a Ukrainian military analyst and former spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian military, said Ukraine can blame the Kremlin for the strike on Poltava, but there must also be a clear understanding of Kiev’s responsibility.

President Zelensky had previously requested 25 Patriot air defense systems to fully defend its airspace and protect the entire country from Russian missile attacks.

Sources:

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-strikes-poltava/33105117.html

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-27ea21c05a2fc336ac4fdbbce31b77bc

Former Aide to New York Governors Charged with Acting as Agent of Chinese Government

Undated image of Linda Sun.

A former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was charged with acting as an agent for the Chinese government.

Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to Hochul and a Cuomo aide, was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registrations Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering, according to an unsealed copy of the indictment.

Her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, was also charged with conspiracy to launder money and commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification.

Sun acted as “an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain.”

Prosecutors allege Sun blocked Taiwanese diplomacy and ensured then-Governor Andrew Cuomo praised China for help during the Covid-19 emergency. The defendants used shell companies, iCloud accounts and WeChat messages – with everything in Mandarin – in their alleged crimes.

Sun and Hu were arrested at their palatial Long Island residence and both pleaded not guilty to all charges in federal court Tuesday afternoon. Sun’s bond is set at $1.5 million and her husband’s is set at $500,000. Both will have their travel limited to NYC, Long Island, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to testify at a Congressional hearing on 10 Sep regarding his response to the Covid-19 response.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Former High-Ranking New York State Government Employee Charged with Acting as an Undisclosed Agent of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party | United States Department of Justice

BREAKING: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to Testify at Public Hearing on September 10 – United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

American Warzone: Man Kills Four People on Train Near Chicago

Rhanni S. Davis (30) of Chicago was charged with four counts of first-degree murder after he allegedly killed four people on a Chicago Transit Authority train in Forest Park, Illinois, early Monday.

The Forest Park Police Department received a 911 call about three people shot on a westbound train at the CTA Blue Line station in Forest Park, just west of Chicago, around 5:30 a.m. local time.

Authorities cleared the station, finding four victims. Three were pronounced dead at the scene and the fourth died later in a hospital.

Law-enforcement agencies used video surveillance to help identify the alleged murderer. The suspect was taken into custody and a firearm was recovered. The shooting appears to have been an isolated incident with no immediate additional threat to the community.

In an average year in Illinois, 1,657 people die and 4,994 are wounded by guns.

With a rate of 13.2 deaths per 100,000 people, the Land of Lincoln has the 35th-highest rate of gun deaths in the US.

Sources:

Man charged in fatal shooting of 4 people on train near Chicago – ABC News

Gun-Violence-in-Illinois-2024-05.pdf (everystat.org)

US Justice Dept Indicts Hamas with One Hand; US State Dept Negotiates with Hamas with Other

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv, Israel, hold placards showing support for hostages who were kidnapped during the 7 Oct 2023 attack.

The Justice Department announced criminal charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militants in connection with the 7 Oct 2023 rampage in Israel, marking the first effort by US law enforcement to formally call out the masterminds of the attack.

The seven-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in NYC includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder US nationals, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, resulting in death. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, that were used in the attack.

The charges come as the White House says it is developing a new cease-fire and hostage deal proposal with its Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to try to bring about an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza. A US official, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was no reason to believe the charges would affect the ongoing negotiations.

A State Department spokesman said that reaching a cease-fire and release of the 100 or so remaining hostages “will require both sides to show flexibility. It will require that both sides look for reasons to get to yes rather than reasons to say no.”

The full unsealed complaint is linked below.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The fabled Pushmi-Pullyu from the Dr. Dolittle canon.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Justice Department Announces Terrorism Charges Against Senior Leaders of Hamas | United States Department of Justice

dl (justice.gov)

US charges Hamas leader, other militants in Oct. 7 attack on Israel (voanews.com)

US issues new call for Israel, Hamas to reach cease-fire pact (voanews.com)

Canada Turning Away More Foreigners Amid Rise in Anti-Immigration Sentiment

At a 2020 rally, protesters called on the federal government to grant permanent status to all refugees across Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. (Michael Charles Cole/CBC)

Canada is taking steps, both official and unofficial, to curb the number of people coming to the country, highlighting the way in which immigration has become a political flashpoint ahead of a federal election.

The ratio of refused visitor visa applications to approved ones was higher in recent months than at any point since the height of the Covid pandemic. Immigration officials rejected more applications than they approved in January, February, May, and June 2024. At the same time, the number of approved study and work permits dropped. And in July, Canada refused entry to nearly 6,000 foreign travelers, including students, workers and tourists – the most since at least January 2019.

Recent polling has shown a sharp change in how Canadians perceive of immigration, amid a mounting cost of living crisis. One immigration lawyer in Nova Scotia said his firm has seen an increase in rejections – and mounting hostility towards the firm’s clients. The sudden growth of the Canadian population stressed the affordable housing and medical care infrastructure.

The immigration minister said he would reassess the number of people applying for permanent residency. PM Justin Trudeau added his government would scale back the controversial temporary foreign workers following a surge in applications. The program was recently condemned by a UN special rapporteur for being a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”.

The prime minister also mentioned reducing the number of permanent residents Canada accepts each year, dramatically upending years of increased immigration levels under his tenure. In late 2023, the federal government said it would freeze permanent resident targets over the next three years to ensure inflows were “sustainable”. Ottawa intends to bring in 485,000 permanent residents in 2024, but only 500,000 in both 2025 and 2026.

Sources:

Canada turning away more foreigners amid rise in anti-immigration sentiment | Canada | The Guardian

UN envoy calls Canada’s use of migrant workers ‘breeding ground for slavery’

Read more

Russia Orders French Researcher Accused of Spying Held for Six More Months

French researcher Laurent Vinatier during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, on 31 July 2024. © Yulia Morozova/Reuters

A court in Moscow on Tuesday ordered a French researcher to remain in jail until at least February 2025, on the first day of his trial for unlawfully collecting sensitive data. Laurent Vinatier was arrested in June for gathering information on Russia’s military without being registered as a “foreign agent”.

The 48-year-old French national has been charged with collecting information on Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” and he faces up to five years in prison if convicted. After he was first arrested, he admitted to the charge of not having registered as a foreign agent, saying he did not know that he was legally required to do so. Vinatier has been held in pre-trial detention since June, despite several requests to be placed under house arrest.

Vinatier is a specialist on the former Soviet Union and worked with the Swiss NGO Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), which helps to mediate conflicts outside of standard diplomatic channels. He was reportedly working on mediation efforts in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

His detention has increased tensions between Moscow and Paris, already strained since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and France’s subsequent support of Kiev. Arrests on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia since the start of the war.

After the biggest post-Cold War prisoner exchange between Russia and the West in early August, which did not include Vinatier, France called on Moscow to free all people “arbitrarily detained in Russia.”

Source:

Russia orders French researcher accused of spying held for six more months (rfi.fr)

Indigenous Mothers Fight to Search Former CIA Experiment Site in Montreal, Quebec

Anthropologist Philippe Blouin poses with Mohawk mothers Kahentinetha and Kwetiio at the Allen Memorial Institute in Montreal. (Image: Alexis Aubin/AFP)

Between 1957 and 1964 (though possibly beginning as early as 1948), psychiatric experiments were conducted at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, a psychiatric teaching hospital affiliated with McGill University. Scottish-American psychiatrist Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron led and conducted these experiments which exposed patients to electroshocks, hallucinogenic drugs, and sensory deprivation. The program is widely believed to have been partly funded by the US CIA as part of their top-secret MKULTRA program, as well as the Canadian government.

Today, a group of Indigenous women are trying to stop the bulldozers at a former Montreal hospital which they believe could hold the truth about children still missing from that grisly half-century-old CIA experiment. They have spent the last two years trying to delay the construction project by McGill University and the Quebec government.

The mothers are relying on archives and testimonies that suggest the site contains unmarked graves of children formerly interned at the Royal Victoria Hospital and Allan Memorial Institute, a neighboring psychiatric hospital.

In the fall of 2022, these activists obtained an injunction to suspend work on a new university campus and research center at the site — a project worth Can$870 million (US$643 million).

In recent years, Canada has opened its eyes to past atrocities. Generations of Indigenous children were sent to residential schools where they were stripped of their language, culture, and identities in what a 2015 truth and reconciliation report said amounted to “cultural genocide.”

Between 1831 and 1996, some 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their homes and placed in 139 such schools. Several thousand never returned to their communities.

In May 2021, the discovery of unmarked graves of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia started a national reflection on this dark chapter of Canadian history, while sparking searches for more graves across Canada.

“It was not only residential schools, it involved hospitals, sanatoriums, churches, and orphanages too,” said Kwetiio (pictured above).

Last summer, sniffer dogs and specialized probes were brought in to search the hospital’s expansive and dilapidated buildings. They managed to identify three areas of interest for excavations. But, according to McGill and the government’s Societe Quebecoise des Infrastructure (SQI), “no human remains have been discovered.”

The Indigenous activists were not satisfied with the search and want another investigation conducted by a party unaffiliated with the government or the university.  

Sources:

Montreal MKULTRA Experiments | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Indigenous mothers fight to search CIA experiment site in Montreal – Raw Story

‘The American People Deserve to Know’: Dems Demand Answers from Trump on $10M Egypt Donation

Donald Trump with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah-el-Sisi on 23 Sep 2019.

On top of his stumbling campaign, Neanderthalic VP running mate JD Vance, imminent due dates for criminal and civil liabilities, and hideous, incoherent speeches, ex-President Donald Trump has another headache to deal with. On 2 Aug, Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. David reported that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi “sought to give” Donald Trump “$10 million to boost his 2016 presidential campaign.” The journalists also noted that in January 2017 — five days before Trump was sworn in as president — almost $10 million was withdrawn from a bank in Cairo.

A month after that article was published, Leonnig and David report that the top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) — have sent a letter asking Trump “if he ever illegally received money from the government of Egypt, and whether money from Cairo played a role in a $10 million infusion into his 2016 run for president.”

“As members of the House minority,” Leonnig and David explain, “Raskin and Garcia do not have the power to subpoena documents or witnesses, and Trump is under no obligation to respond to their inquiries. But the Democrats said the public deserves answers now that Trump is running for president again.”

Should Donald Trump elect to answer the inquiry (the entire six-page letter is linked below), his legal team would advise him to answer truthfully. Making false statements (18 U.S.C. § 1001) in “any matter within the jurisdiction” of the federal government of the US, is punishable up to five imprisonment as well as a fine. This law generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or concealing information, even by merely denying guilt when asked by a federal agent. One of the charges George Santos pleaded guilty to was making false statements to the House of Representatives.

Sources:

Copy of the official six-page letter to ex-President Donald Trump: 2024-09-03.JBR to DJTrump re. Egypt.pdf (house.gov)

‘The American people deserve to know’: Dems demand answers from Trump on $10M Egypt donation – Alternet.org

What Are the Penalties for Lying to Congress? – FindLaw

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-congressman-george-santos-pleads-guilty-fraud-and-identity-theft

Norway’s Forests Have More Than Tripled in One Hundred Years

Norwegian forest development since 1919. Forest volume has more than tripled (dark blue); logging has long been fairly steady (yellow); forest growth (red) has decreased in recent years. (2024 Data and graphic: Landskogtakseringen/NIBIO).

In good news for the world, Norway has tripled its forest volume over the past 100 years to one billion cubic meters of forest; ten percent grew in the last ten years alone. These forests valuably convert the world’s carbon dioxide to oxygen. In 2023, approximately 18 million tons of CO2 (and greenhouse gasses) were absorbed by Norwegian forests.

Several factors account for this phenomenal growth. In the 1960s, schoolchildren planted almost 100 million spruce trees in Norway. Another factor has been higher temperatures and longer summers, as well as increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Jane Goodall believes that planting one trillion trees before 2030 can reverse global climate change. See how this can be accomplished here: A platform for the trillion trees community. | 1t.org.

Sources:

Statistics Norway: “Standing forest volume has passed 1 billion cubic meters”, 30 Aug 2024

NIBIO: “Major changes in The development trend for Norwegian spruce forests”, 6 Feb 2024

Energy and climate: “What is it that is happening to our forest?”, 21 May 2024

Why We Believe Planting 1 Trillion Trees Can Save the Planet | TIME

Our forest has more than tripled in a hundred years (forskning.no)

US Researchers Locate Probable Launch Site of Russia’s New Nuclear-Powered Missile

A satellite image shows what is believed to be a deployment site for a Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile, including 5 nuclear warhead storage bunkers (right) and bermed launch positions (lower left), in Vologda, Russia, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on 27 Aug 2024. Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS.

Two US researchers say they have identified the probable deployment site in Russia of a new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile touted by President Vladimir Putin as “invincible.” Using commercial satellite imagery, the analysts identified a construction project abutting a nuclear warhead storage facility known by two names – Vologda-20 and Chebsara – as the new missile’s potential deployment site. The facility is 295 miles (475 km) north of Moscow.

Dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin brags the 9M370 Burevestnik has an almost unlimited range and can evade US missile defenses. But some Western experts dispute his claims and the Burevestnik’s strategic value, saying it will not add capabilities that Moscow does not already have and risks a radiation-spewing mishap.

Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom said five staff members died during the testing of a rocket on 8 Aug. Putin presented their widows with top state awards, saying the weapon they were developing was without equal in the world, without naming the Burevestnik.

The nuclear-powered engine threatens to disgorge radiation along its flight path and its deployment risks an accident that could contaminate the surrounding region, a former US nuclear weapons scientist reported.

“The Skyfall is a uniquely stupid weapon system, a flying Chernobyl that poses more threat to Russia than it does to other countries,” reported Thomas Countryman, a former top State Department official with the Arms Control Association, referring to the 1986 nuclear plant disaster.

Burevestnik being launched (undated image).

Meanwhile, Kiev fended off a massive Russian drone attack while President Putin made an official visit to Mongolia without being detained for his ICC arrest warrant.

Source:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-researchers-find-probable-launch-site-russias-new-nuclear-powered-missile-2024-09-02/


Spy’s Confession Sheds Light on Russian Espionage in Georgia

Vsevolod Osipov (recent image)

Last month, Vsevolod Osipov was unmasked as an informant for Russia’s security services. He had been sent to Tbilisi to monitor the many Russian dissidents who have flooded the Georgian capital recently. But, he says his new notoriety hasn’t much affected his life here, and done little to scare away patrons – primarily Russians themselves – at the busy wine bar in central Tbilisi where he works as a sommelier.

“An occasional customer who recognizes me from the news stories may come up and ask questions, but beyond that I don’t get much attention,” Osipov reflected.

The young spy’s confession, which was then re-reported in several other media, would seem to be big news in Georgia, where concern about the large influx of Russians is keen. But it’s barely made a ripple.

“I thought that the Georgian police would show up to question me, but nobody seemed to care, except maybe an occasional reporter,” Osipov said with a smile and a faint note of disappointment.

Osipov said he knows at least two more individuals who came clean via social media about traveling to Georgia to spy, and thinks he has spotted a few others. “You are not given identities of other agents, but if you look close enough you can guess who they are.”

“Before coming here in October, I had a pre-departure briefing in Moscow, where they told me to go cafés and restaurants in Tbilisi frequented by the Russians,” Osipov recalled. “I wasn’t supposed to ask any questions or go out of my way to meet people, just observe and keep my thoughts to myself. Then, once a week, I was supposed to report to my coordinator what the general scene was like and if I had picked up on anything important.”

Being a bit of an amateur himself – he was only recruited last year – Osipov was also identifiable to a keen eye. Well before he went public, one heavily inebriated young Russian came up to him in a bar and said in a drunken slur that he knows who he really is.   

Osipov was a law student and an activist with the small Libertarian Party of Russia (LPR) when he got arrested last year for participating in a demonstration in Moscow in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Threatened with imprisonment, he was intimidated into serving as a mole in the LPR and another opposition group, adding that that is how many young people get caught in the FSB net.

After Osipov performed his first, trial assignment to his handlers’ satisfaction, he was awarded with a bigger assignment: go to Georgia. “They gave me 214,000 rubles [about $3,550] to spend for a month and a half. I was supposed to go back to Moscow in December as, I guess, they were still testing me.”

Osipov was tasked with spying on two people in particular: self-exiled chairman of the LPR, Yaroslav Konvey, and Anton Mikhalchuk, a manager with the opposition group Free Russia Foundation. Upon his arrival, Osipov says he went directly to the two and told them outright that he was recruited by the FSB. He says he was trying to warn the LPR leadership all along, but failed to arrange a tête-à-tête with them until he arrived in Georgia. 

Osipov offered to send false info back to his superiors to throw the FSB off the track, but the two exiles appeared to be mistrustful and spread the word among their colleagues about an informant in their midst. Word soon reached Osipov’s girlfriend, who runs a tiny bar in Tbilisi. She asked Vsevolod directly if he was working for the FSB. “I said yes, as I realized that she must’ve heard about it from the people I trusted,” he admitted.         

Osipov continued reporting back to Moscow and convinced his handlers to extend his stay in Georgia. “I loved the city and had a good life here, so I did my best to stay as long as I could and have the FSB pay for it.” Even his handlers appeared curious about vacation options in Georgia: on top of his main job, the intelligence officers asked him to collect information on nice bars and landmarks worth checking out.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the handlers did not need much convincing to extend Osipov’s stay further.

“With so many people coming, they needed more eyes on the ground,” Osipov said. 

Infuriated by the war, Vsevolod stopped responding to his handlers in March. In June, he spoke to media outlet Meduza, which fact-checked his claims, found his handlers and published their identities, and also spoke to the activists that Osipov was supposed to follow. Meduza also published screenshots of Osipov’s chats with his FSB bosses. 

The story raised questions among some Russians in Georgia. Some were surprised by Osipov’s choice to try to pull one over on Russia’s formidable security service, though others put it down to his young age. Osipov admitted that he is indeed worried about the potential of FSB revenge, especially given that his mother remains back in Moscow; but he’s not so concerned about himself.

“I don’t think I’m that important for them to come chasing me here,” he said. “And I can always move to the next place.”

Source:

Spy’s Confession Sheds Light on Russian Espionage in Georgia – The Moscow Times

Britain Suspends Some Arms Exports to Israel

Palestinians look at an unexploded Israeli shell that landed on the main road outside the town of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Photo credit: Reuters.

Britain announced it was suspending the export of some military equipment to Israel as London increases its public criticism of an ally and its methods of war that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Israel’s behavior has attracted increasing criticism, including from allies, such as the US, as the death toll has continuously climbed and much of Gaza has been razed.

Britain announced it was suspending, with immediate effect, some 30 of roughly 350 licenses for the export of military goods to Israel following an assessment the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer showed that there is “clear risk” that Israel could use them in violation of international law. Items affected include military aircraft, helicopter and drone components, as well as items for ground targeting. Trainer aircraft and naval equipment remain permissible for export.

A British policy paper noted that Israel has not fulfilled its duty as the occupying force of Gaza to ensure the enclave’s some two million people receive essential humanitarian supplies. The study indicates that while Israel does not accept it is the occupying power, it does accept the obligation to allow free passage of humanitarian relief by third parties, including the UN. Amnesty International — which is among critics who accuse Israel of potentially committing genocide in Gaza — turned its criticism towards Britain for not going further with its sanctions.

British government statistics show its military exports to Israel have been declining. London had some $55 million worth of licensed arms deals with Israel in 2022, compared to 23.8 million last year.

The US has also withheld some shipments of bombs to Israel, but still allows most of them to be exported.

The International Court of Justice has ordered the Middle Eastern country to take immediate steps to end atrocities in Gaza and the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes. Inexplicably, an arrest warrant has yet to be issued for him, unlike Russian President Vladimir Putin who can be arrested by any country that is a signatory to the ICC.

More than 40,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have been killed during the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Lancet.

Source:

Britain suspends some arms exports to Israel – UPI.com

American Warzone: Five People Shot at New York’s West Indian American Day Parade

Police move revelers from the street after a shooting on Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, during the West Indian Day Parade, 2 Sep 2024.

Five people were shot Monday at New York City’s West Indian American Day Parade. This was the latest incident of violence to mar one of the world’s largest annual celebrations of Caribbean culture.

A gunman targeting a specific group of people opened fire along the parade route in Brooklyn around 2:35PM. The parade had kicked off hours earlier, with thousands of revelers dancing and marching down Eastern Parkway, a main Brooklyn thoroughfare. The parade was expected to continue into the night.

Two people were critically wounded and three were expected to survive their wounds. The gunman fled. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was marching in the parade at the time and completed the route. Police cordoned off an area adjacent to the parade route, where they placed crime scene markers. The parade continued flowing past as officers were seen bagging items.

In 2016, two people were killed and several others were wounded near the parade route. The year before, Carey Gabay, an aide to then-Governor Andrew Cuomo, was shot in the head during pre-parade festivities. He died nine days later.

In an average year, 44,341 people die and 96,935 are wounded by guns in the US, costing the country $557.2 billion each year.

Sources:

5 people shot at New York’s West Indian American Day Parade (voanews.com)

Gun-Violence-in-the-United-States-2024-05.pdf (everystat.org)

Nationalist Mob Chanting ‘Yankee Go Home’ Assaults Two US Marines in Izmir, Turkiye

Two off-duty US Marines are safe after they were assaulted in Turkiye on Monday. @genclikbirligi via X

Two US Marines were assaulted by a group of young nationalists in Turkiye with one attacker placing a bag over the head of one servicemember.

The dramatic incident in the western port city of Izmir was captured on video, showing the moment two Marines were surrounded by a group of 15 people in a commercial area who were chanting “Yankee go home.” The gang then restrained one Marine before one of them places a bag over his head. Moments later, another man can be seen charging the group. None of the service members are in uniform.

Other Marines intervened and no one was reported injured. The service members later returned to their ship, the USS Wasp. Local authorities later identified the group as members of the Turkish Youth Union, or TGB, which is affiliated with the Patriotic Party — a small, nationalist political party without parliament seats. 15 alleged attackers were detained by local security forces.

An account on X purporting to represent the TGB said on Monday: “WE PUT SACKS ON THE US SOLDIERS SERVING ON THE LARGEST ATTACK SHIP OF THE USA, USS WASP! US soldiers, who carry the blood of our soldiers and thousands of Palestinians on their hands, cannot dirty our country. Every time you step into these lands, we will welcome you as you deserve!”

The reason why these Turkish nationalists placed a sack over one of the Marines stems from the 2003 “hood event.” On 4 July 2003, a detachment of Turkish soldiers operating in Iraqi Kurdistan were captured by US forces, hooded, then led away for interrogation. Afterwards, US forces raided a Turkish Special Forces safehouse in Sulaymaniyah and seized 15 kgs (33 lb) of explosives in addition to sniper rifles, grenades, and maps of Kirkuk with circles drawn around positions near the local governor’s building. Ankara lodged a diplomatic protest with Washington and the Turkish soldiers were eventually released after spending 60 hours in US custody.

The sight of seeing Turkish military personnel arrested, humiliated, and hooded by their American ally infuriated the Turkish public and wounded their national pride. The Turkish people have never forgotten that insult from 21 years ago.

Sources:

Two U.S. Marines assaulted by nationalist mob in Turkey (nbcnews.com)

Hood event – Wikipedia

US detains Turkish troops in Iraq | News | Al Jazeera

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3067319.stm

Donald Trump’s Cognitive Decline Becoming More Apparent

Ex-President Donald J. Trump delivers a speech during the “Make America Great Again” rally held at the Mohegan Sun Arena. (Brandon Stivers / Shutterstock.com)

Political analysts and mental health experts are becoming more and more alarmed by the 45th President’s latest bizarre and incoherent speeches.

Written verbatim below is what Donald Trump said at a rally in Potterville, MI. This is painful to read and must have been torturous to hear:

“She destroyed the city of San Francisco, it’s — and I own a big building there — it’s no — I shouldn’t talk about this but that’s OK I don’t give a damn because this is what I’m doing. I should say it’s the finest city in the world — sell and get the hell out of there, right? But I can’t do that. I don’t care, you know? I lost billions of dollars, billions of dollars. You know, somebody said, ‘What do you think you lost?’ I said, ‘Probably two, three billion. That’s OK, I don’t care.’ They say, ‘You think you’d do it again?’ And that’s the least of it. Nobody. They always say, I don’t know if you know. Lincoln was horribly treated. Uh, Jefferson was pretty horribly. Andrew Jackson they say was the worst of all, that he was treated worse than any other president. I said, ‘Do that study again, because I think there’s nobody close to Trump.’ I even got shot! And who the hell knows where that came from, right?”

As Donald Trump’s mental faculties continue to decline, so are GOP campaign coffers. Republicans are “starting to panic” because of a large fundraising gap they see emerging with their Democratic rivals and time is running short to close any distance with the election a little more than two months away.

Adding to Donald Trump’s miseries, a former advisor recently issued a humiliating message on ‘X’:

“Former Trump staffer and friend Anthony Scaramucci says Melania “hates” Trump and wants Kamala Harris to win.”

https://twitter.com/MikeSington/status/1830209424566395336/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1830209424566395336%7Ctwgr%5Ee50bd64db012f21b0a16035e4fc38c70b5f06f89%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2F100219408110

Moreover, an “October Surprise” awaits the the oldest candidate to ever run for the White House. An unflattering film about a young Donald Trump called ‘The Apprentice’ opens on 11 Oct in US and Canadian theaters (one month before the election). “The Apprentice” chronicles Trump’s rise to power in NY real estate under the tutelage of notorious defense attorney Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong). Late in the movie, Trump is depicted raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova ). In Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce deposition, she stated that Trump raped her. Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didn’t mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated.

Sources:

GOP ‘starting to panic’ as Democrats build massive fundraising lead: report – Raw Story

‘Genuinely chilling’: Analyst sounds alarm over Trump’s latest bizarre speeches – Raw Story

Trump film ‘The Apprentice’ finds distributor and will open before the election | AP News

New Zealand Spy Report Calls Out China for Interference

New Zealand’s spy service branded China a “complex intelligence concern,” warning the Pacific nation was vulnerable to foreign interference. In an annual threat report, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) reported that several countries were undertaking “malicious activity” on its shores, but called out China’s attempts as “complex and deceptive.”

In particular, Beijing was accused of using front organizations to connect with local groups to replace authentic and diverse community views with those approved by the ruling party. In one example, a Chinese-language community news outlet parroted Beijing’s talking points.

In March, Wellington publicly said a Chinese state-sponsored group was behind a 2021 malicious cyber attack that infiltrated sensitive government computer systems. China dismissed allegations of hacking and accused New Zealand critics of being puppets of Washington.

Sources:

New-Zealands-Security-Threat-Environment-2024.pdf (nzsis.govt.nz)

New Zealand Spy Report Calls Out China For Interference | IBTimes

True Story of Penguin’s Annual Return to See Man Who Saved it From Oil Spill

Years ago, João Pereira de Souza discovered a Megallanic penguin covered in oil from a recent spill on Proveta Beach in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil.

Taking the penguin home, João found the bird exhausted and depleted after swimming through the oil spill. He nursed the penguin back to health, with plenty of soapy scrubbing and fish treats, naming it ‘Dindim’ after the toddler-speak of his son trying to say the Portuguese word for penguin (pinguim).

After Dindim recovered, João released him on an island near Proveta Beach and went home. But Dindim had followed him back and remained on his lawn waiting to be let inside. Dindim finally left of his own accord in Feb 2012. But for eight consecutive years, the penguin would leave every February and faithfully return to João Pereira de Souza in June.

My Penguin Friend recounts this story and premiered this month to mostly positive reviews, including an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Source:

The Good News Network

CENTCOM: US, Iraqi Security Forces Kill 15 ISIS Operatives; In Yemen, Two Shia Houthi Drones Destroyed

A UH-60 Black Hawk flies during a 2022 mission targeting ISIS. (MAJ Karl R. Cain II/ US Army)

CENTCOM forces and Iraqi Security Forces conducted a partnered raid in Western Iraq in the early hours of 29 Aug, resulting in the death of 15 ISIS operatives.  Seven US casualties were reported. The ISIS element was armed with numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive “suicide” belts.  There is no indication of civilian casualties or if any prisoners were taken for interrogation or prosecution. Iraqi Security Forces continue to further exploit the locations raided. CENTCOM also reported in the past 24 hours they destroyed two Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicles in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

The Houthis are a Shia Muslim minority in Yemen, seen as heretical by the majority Sunnis Muslims 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 an appalling humanitarian disaster of starvation and disease. The UN estimates 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. (2020 image: Sky News).

The famine and blockade propelled the beleaguered Shia Yemenis into the arms of Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah, their fellow Shia co-religionists.  This is why we see Houthi drone counterattacks 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 in Yemen can be laid squarely at the feet of the notorious MBS, who allegedly had a dissident journalist named Jamal Khashoggi literally butchered and dismembered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 Oct 2018.

Sources:

CENTCOM Forces and Iraqi Security Forces conduct partnered raid in Western Iraq > U.S. Central Command > Press Release View

15 ISIS militants killed, 7 US troops injured during Iraq raid (airforcetimes.com)

Yemen in ‘a desperate situation’ as famine looms and hundreds of thousands face starvation | World News | Sky News

The Houthis: Who They Are and Why Conflict Exists (brookings.edu)

Famine in Yemen (2016–present) – Wikipedia

Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi – Wikipedia

Hundreds of Taiwanese Disappear in China Like a Black Hole Over Past Ten Years

Victims of enforced disappearance in China (L to R) rights attorney Gao Zhisheng, retired university professor Sun Wenguang, 2022 bridge banner protester Peng Lifa, and the 11th Panchen Lama.

More than 800 nationals of democratic Taiwan have “disappeared” over the past ten years in China, which has long used forced disappearances to silence and control its own dissidents and rights activists, rights groups. Figures compiled by the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and several other non-government groups showed that 857 Taiwan nationals have been “forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily arrested” in China.

The victims include publisher Li Yanhe (pen name Fu Cha), detained in Shanghai since April 2023, democracy activist Lee Ming-cheh, who served a five-year jail term in Hunan province for “attempting to subvert state power,” and businessman Lee Meng-Chu, jailed for nearly two years for “espionage” after he snapped photos of People’s Armed Police personnel during the 2019 Hong Kong protests.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese lawmaker Hung Shen-han warned that it’s not only Taiwanese who are at risk of arbitrary arrest and “disappearance” in China. “Chinese citizens themselves face the same problem.”

Geng He, the US-based wife of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng said it has been seven years since he “disappeared” on 13 Aug 2017.

Disappeared Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng in an undated photo. (Weiquanwang)

Chinese authorities have also forcibly disappeared Uyghurs and Tibetans in the far-western part of mainland China. An estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims have been detained in Xinjiang under flimsy pretexts during mass incarcerations that began more than seven years ago in an effort by Chinese authorities in a massive Sinicization project.

Former Xinjiang University President Tashpolat Teyip, who himself vanished in 2017 amid rumors he had run afoul of China’s increasingly hardline policies in Xinjiang has had no news about his brother, Nury, who also fell victim to an enforced disappearance. Teyip, who now lives in the US state of Virginia, said he has lost faith in the UN and international human rights organizations which did little to help except release a statement.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy highlighted a “disturbing trend” of underreporting of the number of Tibetans who are victims of enforced disappearances as China cracks down more heavily with restrictions and heightened surveillance in Tibet.  The rights group has documented more than 63 known cases of Tibetans subjected to enforced disappearance in Tibet over the past four years, but said the underreporting likely had to do with fear of reprisals. 

In February 2024, Tibetan performer  Gyegjom Dorjee (pictured below), who sang publicly about the exiled Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet and blasted Chinese leaders as “false,” was arrested in China’s Sichuan province.

In March, Chinese police arrested Pema, a Tibetan monk from Kirti Monastery, for staging a solo protest while holding a portrait of the Dalai Lama.  And on May 28, the Chinese authorities arrested Rabgang Tenzin who hoisted the Tibetan national flag in Tibet’s Chamdo prefecture as part of a consecration ceremony.  

The U.S. Congressional Executive Commission on China and the Tibetan government in exile urged Beijing to reveal the whereabouts of one of the highest Tibetan Buddhist leaders, the 11th Panchen Lama, or Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as one of the “most prominent enforced disappearance cases.” He was abducted by Chinese authorities in May 1995, just days after the Dalai Lama recognized the then six-year-old as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest spiritual leader in the largest sect of Tibetan Buddhism. 

Source:

Hundreds of Taiwanese ‘disappear’ in China over past 10 years — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)

Since Its War in Ukraine, Russia Relies More on “Bargain Basement” Spies

Pablo Gonzalez (second from left in back), a freelance journalist from Spain, listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing him and other “swapped” Russian prisoners upon their arrival in Moscow on 1 Aug 2024. (Imagery: Radio Free Europe)

After Russia lost many of its valuable spy assets when dozens of diplomats were expelled from Western countries after the invasion of Ukraine, non-diplomatic civilian agents have now become essential. 90% of operations now carried out by these shadowy figures.

Many manage to avoid detection by working in innocuous jobs that allow them access to events and people of interest to Moscow. One purpose of these low-level spies is to exert influence on the Western world by infiltrating radical protest groups or opposition organizations.

A recent prisoner swap with Moscow included supposed art dealers and a Spanish-Russian freelance reporter Pablo Gonzalez, also known as Pavel Rubtsov.

On the surface, Pablo Gonzalez worked as a reporter for media outlets that included Deutsche Welle (DW) and the Voice of America (VOA), specializing in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. But in reality, according to the head of the British MI6 secret service, Gonzalez was gathering information on Russian opposition groups and trying to destabilize Ukraine in the run up to Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Polish authorities detained Gonzalez in February 2022. Until 1 August, he was held in a high-security jail on charges of spying for Russia — allegations he had denied.

Media watchdogs condemned the conditions in which Poland held Gonzalez, but video footage of him being welcomed by Putin after the swap appeared to confirm his primary role was spy craft, not journalism.

Marc Marginedas, a correspondent for Spanish newspaper El Periodico, said despite the expulsions of Russian diplomats after the Ukraine invasion, the Russian intelligence service is like a small army. Staff in Russian embassies and state-run media organizations are probably forced to work in some kind of intelligence capacity. Marginedas agreed that “illegals” or “bargain basement” agents are now a mainstay of Moscow’s spying operation.

“Russia has invested heavily in ‘illegal’ agents who do not enjoy diplomatic protection,” he said. “Putin, by receiving those people with pomp at [Moscow’s] airport and promising them jobs and medals, was sending out the message to the future spies that the Russian state will not abandon its spies.”

Sources:

‘Renaissance of illegals’: Since its war in Ukraine, Russia is relying more on bargain basement spies (voanews.com)

Putin’s welcome ends speculation around true identity of Pablo Gonzalez

South Africans Flocking to Visiting Chinese Hospital Ship for Free Medical Care

The Peace Ark has a capacity to treat 700 patients each day and the service forms part of a joint exercise between the South African and Chinese armies. (Image: BBC)

As reported above, while undesirables are disappearing in China, Beijing is fostering goodwill in Africa with the Peace Ark, a 300-bed hospital that is docked in Capetown, South Africa. The military medical staff on board are providing free health care to needy South Africans.

Since the Peace Ark arrived last week, more than 2,000 South Africans have been treated on board – ranging from maternity check-ups and cataract surgeries to cupping therapy. Approximately 60 surgeries have been carried out so far, a tiny dent in the province’s waiting list of 80,000 patients.

The floating hospital leaves Cape Town for Angola before moving on to several other countries. The Peace Ark already visited the Seychelles, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Mozambique on this 10th excursion since being commissioned in 2008.

China enjoys a strong political partnership with South Africa, and this is Beijing’s latest show of soft power and a further step in China’s efforts to increase its influence on the African continent.

The 300-bed Peace Ark has a crew of 100, 20 intensive care beds, operating theatres, clinical departments, and a rescue helicopter.

Source:

Peace Ark: South Africans flock to Chinese hospital ship in Cape Town (bbc.com)

West Nile Virus Kills Two in New Jersey as US Death Toll Reaches Five; EEE Threatens New England

Two people have died in New Jersey after contracting West Nile virus — marking the fourth and fifth deaths in the US this year from the mosquito-borne disease. Little is known about the victims, beyond that they’ve been identified as “older adults.”

The deaths come on the heels of two virus-related fatalities in Wisconsin and one in Illinois. There have been a total of eight West Nile cases in New Jersey this year, leading to seven hospitalizations for encephalitis or meningitis. In 2023, 14 cases were reported in New Jersey and one death. NYC has reported six cases of West Nile and a total of 20 cases have been reported throughout NYS.

To the north as reported in a previous post, New England health authorities have been dealing with mosquitos carrying eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). Vermont’s health department is urging residents of several towns, including one bordering Quebec, to stay indoors from dusk to dawn to prevent the spread of a mosquito-borne illness.

Sources:

Department of Health | News | State Officials Urge Residents to Take Precautions Against Mosquito-Borne Illnesses (nj.gov)

West Nile kills 2 in NJ — 5 total dead across US (nypost.com)

Quebec towns near U.S. border alerted as Vermont faces mosquito-borne illness threat | CBC News

Jews and Arabs Hoped to Fill One Truck with Aid for Gaza Civilians. They filled 300.

Haviva Ner-David (R) with other Standing Together volunteers collecting humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza at Umm al-Fahem, a mostly Arab Israeli city in the Haifa district, 11 Aug 2024. (Photo: Faisel Mahagneh)

Standing Together, a joint Jewish-Arab Israeli national activist movement working for peace, equality and justice, had a plan to hire one big truck to go from one Arab town to another across Israel collecting donations of supplies. These would then be transported across the border and distributed to Gazan civilians through an international organization.

But already at the first site in northern Arab city of Sakhnin, it became clear more than one truck would be needed and volunteers filled three trucks. At Umm El Fahem, these volunteers collected 29 trucks full of aid. Donations included tuna fish, baby formula, bags of legumes and flour, as well as packages of diapers and menstrual pads. By the end of the humanitarian aid drive, which was extended a few extra days to include a couple more sites, Standing Together filled 300 trucks with supplies.

Before the war, back in January 2023, Standing Together organized the first mass demonstration against the government in Tel Aviv, drawing thousands of Arabs and Jews.

Humanitarian aid collected for civilians in Gaza at a warehouse in Umm al-Fahem, Israel, Aug. 11, 2024. (Jacob Ner-David)

Source:

Jews and Arabs hoped to fill a truck with aid for Gaza civilians. We ended up filling 300. – Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)

American Warzone: NFL Rookie Wounded During Robbery Attempt in San Francisco

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall during NFL football training camp in Santa Clara, Calif., Wednesday, 31 July 2024. Photo by: Jeff Chiu/AP

America’s two favorite pastimes, firearms and football, collided this weekend when 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (23) was shot Saturday during an attempted robbery in central San Francisco.  Police said that Pearsall was injured while being robbed and so was the suspect. Both were taken to the hospital and Pearsall’s condition was reported as “good” by his teammate Deebo Samuel (posted on X).

In an average year, 3,299 people die and 9,787 are wounded by guns in California. The Golden State has the 32nd-highest rate of gun violence in the US. Per CBS News, California firearms licenses in 2021 numbered 406,360 and an estimated 28.3% of adults in California have guns in their homes. The number of illegal firearms in California is unknown.

Sources:

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall shot during attempted robbery (scrippsnews.com)

Gun-Violence-in-California-2024-05.pdf (everystat.org)

4. California – Gun map: Ownership by state – statistics and rates (cbsnews.com)

Baby Rhino’s First Video: Southern White Calf Born in Melbourne Zoo

The new rhino calf will be named by public vote in the coming weeks. His mother, Kipenzi, means “precious one” in Swahili. Imagery: Werribee Open Range Zoo

Kipenzi is an 11-year-old southern white rhino, one of the most numerous rhino subspecies. Her calf was born on 18 Aug, and unlike her first baby which she tragically rejected years ago, she has been an attentive mother this time around.

Sheltered from public view as the two bond, visitors will soon be able to see the new boy stomping about his enclosure. Dr. Mark Pilgrim, the zoo’s director, said that Kipenzi was “doing her best to shepherd it and keep it close to her, and making sure that it’s not wandering off too far. So she’s just doing the perfect thing we expect a mother rhino to do.”

Kipenzi herself was born at Werribee Zoo in 2013 to resident rhino Sisi, who also presented a danger to her calf as she would not let Kipenzi out of her sight, even just to walk alongside her to nurse.

Source:

Baby Rhino’s First Video: Adorable Footage of Southern White Calf Born in Aussie Zoo (goodnewsnetwork.org)

Israel Rejects UN Ceasefire to Allow Polio Vaccinations in Gaza

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip walk through a dark streak of sewage flowing into the streets of the southern town of Khan Younis on 4 July 2024. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Julian Borger at The Guardian reports that the first verified case of type 2 poliovirus in 25 years in Gaza, in a baby, has resulted in the paralysis of the infant. This child will be the first of many if the UN is not allowed to administer vaccines to 650,000 children in the Strip, which will definitely require a ceasefire. Israeli authorities are allowing refrigerated units into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, but are refusing a cease-fire. Without a ceasefire, families will not line up their children to receive the oral vaccine. Some 95% of the infants in Gaza need to have the vaccine administered to prevent an outbreak, and they need two doses. But aid workers cannot safely move around to make arrangements for administering the doses.

Aid organizations want to use Deir al-Balah to store and distribute the vaccines, but the IDF has evacuated and invaded the area, risking destroying the remaining medical infrastructure there. Some 250,000 Palestinians have been expelled from their shelters since the beginning of August. Allowing refrigerated units in without a necessary cease-fire is tantamount to someone mailing in a bill but neglecting to sign the check and put a stamp on the envelope.

There is no cure for polio once it is contracted and victims will either be paralyzed or die. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on the Gaza population has killed more than 15,000 children.

“Gaza Polio,” by Juan Cole, Digital, Dream / Dreamland v. 3 / Clip2Comic, 2024

Meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli troops backed by helicopters, drones, and armored personnel carriers raided Jenin and Tulkarm and other areas in the occupied West Bank. But they were there not to arrest rabid Israeli settlers who have killed over 500 West Bank Palestinians over the past two years, but other Palestinians, killing at least ten of them.

Sources:

Israel Rejects UN Ceasefire to Allow Polio Vaccinations in Gaza – Truthdig

At least 10 Palestinians killed in major Israeli raids across West Bank | Reuters

Belarus Ramps Up ‘Military-Patriotic’ Camps for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children

An officer of Belarus’s Interior Ministry teaches a child to fire an automatic weapons in March 2020.

Following the unprecedented pro-democracy demonstrations that broke out after Belarus’s disputed 2020 presidential election, the Aleksandr Lukashenko regime undertook a ruthless crackdown on dissent that included jailing activists, shutting down independent media, and generally dismantling civil society.

And among those left most completely isolated were the country’s thousands of orphans and children whose parents have been deprived of custody. Following Vladimir Putin’s lead of indoctrinating Ukrainian children, Aleksandr Lukashenko is doing the same for orphans and parentless children in Belarus.

Orphans from state and Belarusian Orthodox Church institutions have been sent to camps at military installations, instructed in military drills and weaponry, trained by mercenaries from Russia’s notorious Wagner Group, and assigned to write letters of encouragement to Russian soldiers occupying parts of Ukraine. The state’s “patriotic” education efforts are jointly coordinated by the Education, Defense, Interior, and Emergencies ministries. Although such camps for vulnerable children have been run since at least 2007, the war in Ukraine and Belarus’s growing authoritarianism have made the effort a government priority.

Disadvantaged teens participating in a Belarusian militarized camp in July 2010.

The number of camps for orphans and other socially disadvantaged children hosted by military units has increased steadily since 2020. In 2021-22, there were about 480 of them, state media reported, and in 2023, 583 such camps were organized with the participation of “nearly 6,000 children.”

For 2024, the government planned to host 14,000 children in camps conducted by veterans, mercenaries, and active-duty personnel, some with programs titled “Kindness and Courage.”

Wagner mercenary fighters instruct children at a “military-patriotic” club near Minsk in 2023 in this screen grab from a video posted by state TV commentator Ksenia Lebedeva “This is not Mary Poppins, you know,” Lebedeva wrote. “Our children are choosing the right toys and the right teachers.”

The Emergencies Ministry University runs a high school for orphans, disadvantaged children, and children from troubled families. This year, 93 percent of the school’s graduates planned to study at military-technical institutes. The Moscow-affiliated Belarusian Orthodox Church was operating about 20 military-patriotic clubs around the country. In May, the Education Ministry authorized Orthodox monasteries to open shelters for vulnerable children.

At a session of the UN Human Rights Council in March 2023, the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) expressed alarm at “Belarusian military training programs of children,” saying that more than 18,000 children “as young as 6” had passed through the training — which included the use of firearms — in 2022.

All of these innocent children are being indoctrinated to be loyal to the state and Aleksandr Lukashenko.

Source:

Belarus Ramps Up ‘Military-Patriotic’ Camps For Orphans And Other Vulnerable Children (rferl.org)

Kentucky Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Attacking US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021

Dan Edwin Wilson (48) of Louisville, KY, was sentenced to five years in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and $2,000 restitution for attacking the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021.

In late 2020, Wilson began planning to obstruct and interfere with the joint session of Congress at the Capitol during the 6 Jan 2021 certification of the Electoral College vote. On 22 Dec 2020, Wilson—who in an encrypted messaging application went by the moniker “Live Wire”—responded to a discussion regarding traveling to Washington, D.C. for 6 Jan 2021, by writing, “Ooh Rah. Curb stomp crew all in!!!”

Later that same day, Wilson wrote, “We are willing to work and coordinate with others, but I am a gray ghost ranger,” referring to Wilson’s affiliation with a particular militia.  Wilson also discussed bringing firearms to Washington, D.C. for 6 Jan 2021, but he ultimately wrote, on 24 Dec 2020, “In my opinion I don’t think it’s time to gun up for the sixth we have to play this out but if they seat Biden on the 20th all bets are off it’s gonna happen even if Trump wins we have to get this government under control it’s been crossing my mind if we go to a Civil War do we try to take Washington DC first or do we try to take state capitals first.”  On 27 Dec 2020, Wilson wrote, “I am ready to lay my life on the line. It is time for good men to do bad things.”

Should Democrat Kamala Harris win the election this November, this dangerous maniac and militia member will be incarcerated during her entire first term. Every day Dan Edwin Wilson will see portraits of President Harris hanging proudly on the walls of his US Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility.

In the 43 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,488 seditionists have been charged in nearly all 50 states for attacking the US Capitol, including nearly 550 suspects charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement personnel. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.

Source:

District of Columbia | Kentucky Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison on Felony Conspiracy Charge for Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

Hungarian National Arrested on Charges of Conspiring to Export 200 US Military-Grade Radios to Russia

Masked Russian soldier employing tactical radio. Undated imagery.

US authorities detained a Hungarian man on suspicion of engaging in illegal export activities to Russia. Bence Horváth (46), a resident of Spain, was detained at San Francisco International Airport on 23 Aug as he entered the US. Horvath and his accomplices allegedly violated the 2018 Export Control Reform Act. The Justice Department alleged Horváth operated as part of an international intermediary and procurement network with direct contractual relations with Russian government institutions. He and others operating in Spain, Serbia, Hungary, Latvia, and other unnamed countries are suspected of procuring American technology and smuggling it to Russia.

Bence Horvath faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million for violating the Export Control Reform Act.

A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source:

Office of Public Affairs | Hungarian National Arrested on Charges of Conspiring to Export U.S. Military-Grade Radios to Russian Government End Users | United States Department of Justice

Trump Campaign Staff Accused of Verbally Abusing Arlington National Cemetery Official

President Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference annual meeting at National Harbor on 2 March 2019. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

Members of Donald Trump’s campaign staff were reportedly involved in an altercation with an Arlington National Cemetery official during a wreath-laying ceremony that has been criticized as a cheap, tawdry campaign stunt.

Allegedly two members of his staff verbally assaulted and pushed a cemetery official who tried to prevent Trump staffers from taking video and photos in a section where recent US casualties are buried. Only cemetery staff are authorized to conduct photography in the area known as Section 60. Trump was at Arlington to mark the third anniversary of an attack on US forces in Afghanistan during the chaotic withdrawal from the country.

GOP candidate Trump has repeatedly tried to blame Vice President Kamala Harris for the 26 August 2021 suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport that killed 13 American service members.

Per Arlington National Cemetery:

“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign. Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”

After this incredibly egregious misstep, the ex-President then followed that up by resharing a vulgar post on his social media site Truth Social suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris used sexual favors to advance her career. A CNN anchorwoman described Trump as “divorced from reality” and Kamala Harris simply said “Donald Trump was out of his mind.”

As the Trump Campaign disintegrates and continues to alienate women, another damaging video of GOP VPOTUS candidate JD Vance has emerged of Vance attacking childless women, this one from during his run for the Senate seat he now occupies.

In the video clip shown on national TV, the Yale Law School graduate launched a broadside at teachers who don’t have children of their own, telling a crowd he thinks they are “trying to brainwash the minds of our children.”

JD Vance singled out Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, and smeared her by exclaiming, “If she wants to brainwash and destroy the mind of children, she should have some of her own and leave ours the hell alone.”

One opinion maker described the Trump Campaign vetting process as “simply insane” and rumors are floating that Trump regrets picking JD Vance as his VPOTUS running mate.

The NYT reported that Team Kamala had a 3% national polling average lead over Trump as of 28 Aug. This is absolutely breathtaking that the 2024 US Presidential election could even be close between Donald Trump and JD Vance versus Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

Sources:

Trump Campaign Staff Accused Of Verbally Abusing Arlington National Cemetery Official | IBTimes

https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-2669093418/

‘This is simply insane’: Questions raised about vetting of J.D. Vance amid new blow-up – Raw Story

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/schumer-trump-regrets-weird-vance-1235069638/

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Indicted on All Charges and Banned from Leaving France

Copyright Tatan Syuflana/AP

French authorities charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app. He was released after four days of questioning and barred from leaving France pending further investigation. In addition to Russia and France, Durov is also a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, and the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The co-founder of the messaging app was detained on Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a sweeping judicial inquiry.

Allegations against the Russia-born Durov, who is also a French citizen, include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, and that Telegram refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.

The first preliminary charge against him was for “’complicity in managing an online platform to allow illicit transactions by an organized group,” a crime that can lead to sentences of up to 10 years in prison and a €500,000 fine. Durov’s arrest in France has caused outrage in Russia, calling it politically motivated and proof of the West’s double standard on freedom of speech. The outcry has raised eyebrows among Kremlin critics because in 2018, Russian authorities themselves tried to block the Telegram app but failed, withdrawing the ban in 2020.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Durov’s arrest wasn’t a political move but part of an independent investigation. In a statement posted on its platform after Durov’s arrest, Telegram said it abides by EU laws, and its moderation is “within industry standards and constantly improving”.

A legal move like this probably caught the attention of ‘X’ CEO Elon Musk, who has angered government officials in the UK, Australia, and Brazil for allowing right-wing hate messages or disinformation to flourish on his ‘X’ social platform.

Sources:

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov indicted on all charges and banned from leaving France | Euronews

Pavel Durov’s arrest could expose how the Kremlin used Telegram to its advantage, expert says

FBI: Trump Gunman’s Motive Still Mystery

The FBI reported that the 20-year-old Thomas Crooks acted alone, that there is no sign of foreign involvement, and a motive for the assassination attempt remains unknown. The assault rifle used in the shooting was purchased legally and Thomas Crooks was not known to the FBI when he attempted to shoot the former president at a rally in Butler, PA, on 13 July. His attack grazed Trump’s ear, killed one man, and seriously injured two others.

Crooks began searching online for Trump campaign events in September 2023. He searched for events for both Trump and President Joe Biden, who was still the Democratic nominee at the time of the shooting. He also looked for the location of both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. Thomas Crooks apparently had a “mixture of ideologies,” according to the FBI.

Please see FBI evidence gallery at bottom.

Unfortunately for the FBI, they can not interrogate a corpse, hence the importance of capturing and keeping a suspect alive. By training, the USSS (permanently) neutralized the immediate threat to the ex-POTUS; but now investigators must piece together or speculate the reasons for the attempted assassination.

Imagine what the US Intelligence Community (USIC) or law-enforcement agencies could have been learned if Lee Harvey Oswald wasn’t killed by Jack Ruby in Nov 1963, if sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was prevented from committing suicide while under federal custody in Aug 2019, or if Osama Bin Laden was taken alive by Seal Team Six in May 2011?

Sources:

Update on the FBI Investigation of the Attempted Assassination of Former President Donald Trump — FBI

A photo of the AR-15-style rifle used by Thomas Crooks.

A backpack and the rifle carried by Thomas Crooks.

HVAC unit on the side of the building which Thomas Crooks used to climb onto the roof where he shot at the ex-President.

Two explosive devices in Thomas Crooks’s car. The FBI stated the receiver on the devices for remote detonation was in the ‘off’ position and that they ‘had several problems in the way they were constructed.’

US Sanctions Hundreds to Cripple Kremlin’s Military Production

Shahed-136 drones (AKA Geran-2), is an Iranian-designed loitering munition. Image Credit: Screenshot.

The US sanctioned nearly 400 individuals and entities to disrupt Russia’s international supply chains, metal procurement, and financial services that support its war effort in Ukraine. The move builds on sanctions already imposed on Russia in response to its full-scale war in Ukraine and were aimed at distinct networks, individuals, and entities whose products and services enable Russia to sustain the war and evade sanctions.

The list includes numerous transnational networks that procure ammunition and military materiel, entities that facilitate Russian oligarchal sanctions evasions, gold launderers, and procurers of sensitive and critical items such as advanced machinery tools and electronic components.

The sweeping action targets networks, individuals, and entities across 16 jurisdictions, including in China, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UAE. The measures against companies in China alone are aimed at 190 targets. Also targeted are entities and individuals involved in Russia’s future energy, metals, and mining production, subsidiaries of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom and “malign actors involved in the attempted, forcible ‘re-education’ of Ukraine’s children.”

The US government also added 123 entities to the Commerce Department Entity List that forces suppliers to obtain licenses before shipping to targeted companies (63 Russian, 42 Chinese, 18 other).  The US is attempting to impede the production of Russian Shahed-136 drones used against Ukraine.

This move comes from Washington comes just as Kiev recently launched its largest drone attack on Moscow, its intelligence services hacked Russian TV (embarrassing Vladimir Putin), and the Ukrainians celebrated their Independence Day (24 August 1991).

Sources:

U.S. Sanctions Hundreds Of Targets In Effort To Cripple Kremlin’s Military Production (rferl.org)

Sanctions List Search (treas.gov)

https://www.bis.gov/entity-list

IDF Kills Dozens in Airstrikes as Ceasefire Talks Inch Forward

Palestinians walk next to sewage in the streets of Khan Younis, Gaza, 4 July 2024. Health authorities and aid agencies are racing to prevent an outbreak of polio in the Gaza Strip after the virus was detected in the territory’s wastewater. The UN confirmed the first cases of polio in the Gaza Strip in 25 years. (Photo: Jehad Alshrafi / AP)

At least three dozen Palestinians were killed in multiple Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, even as preparations moved ahead for high-level cease-fire talks in Egypt. Among the dead were 11 members of the same family, including two children, when an Israeli airstrike hit their home in the city of Khan Younis. Nasser Hospital received a total of 33 dead who were killed in three separate strikes in and around Khan Younis. The city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it received three bodies.

Seventeen others were killed when a strike hit a road south of Khan Younis, including the passengers on a tuk-tuk and passers-by. Another strike hit a tuk-tuk east of Khan Younis, killing at least five people. Palestinian first responders also recovered the bodies of 10 people from a residential block west of Khan Younis. The circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear and this area was repeatedly bombed by the Israeli military over the past week. An Associated Press journalist at the hospital counted the bodies and filmed the funeral service in the hospital’s courtyard.

President Biden called Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to stress the urgency of reaching a cease-fire and hostage release deal. Israel’s retaliatory offensive since October 2023 has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and caused widespread destruction, forcing 2.3 million Gazans to flee their homes. The New York Times reported the IDF onslaught against Gaza has created an estimated 19,000 Palestinian orphans, several with amputated limbs (see previous post by Coriolanus).

The American taxpayer has given Israel more than $260 billion in combined military and economic aid since World War II, plus about $10 billion more in contributions for missile defense systems like the Iron Dome. Meanwhile, Israeli cabinet members have publicly called for a “nabka” and you wonder how much Palestinian population reduction will eventually satisfy them.  

Sources:

Dozens killed in strikes in Gaza as preparations for cease-fire talks move forward (voanews.com)

‘We’re Rolling Out Nakba 2023,’ Israeli Minister Says on Northern Gaza Strip Evacuation – Israel News – Haaretz.com

Israeli Minister Admits Military Is Carrying Out ‘Nakba’ Against Gaza’s Palestinians (msn.com)

Why Israel’s leaders call for ‘Second Nakba’ | Middle East Eye

How Much Aid Does the U.S. Give to Israel? | Best Countries | U.S. News (usnews.com)

Maryland Police Officer Justin Lee Guilty of Attacking US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021

A Rockville, MD man was convicted today of forcibly obstructing law enforcement and other charges for attacking the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021. Justin Lee (25) was found guilty of two felony offenses, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and civil disorder. In addition to the felonies, Lee is guilty of misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

Lee was present at the “Tunnel”, the site of the heaviest close-quarters-combat between seditionists and USCP officers, where amongst other actions, the defendant deployed a smoke grenade. After the 6 January attack, Justin Lee astonishingly joined the Montgomery County Police Department where he was subsequently involved in a shooting incident which was being investigated by authorities. Justin Lee will be sentenced on 22 Nov 2024.

In the 43 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including nearly 550 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.

Sources:

District of Columbia | Maryland Man Convicted of Forcibly Obstructing Law Enforcement and Other Charges During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

Montgomery Co. officer charged with assaulting police on Jan. 6 | fox43.com

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Act as Agent of PRC Government

Ping Li (59) of Wesley Chapel, FL pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without notification to the Attorney General. The former Verizon employee spied for the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) for twelve years as a “cooperative contact.”

LI, a US citizen, admitted that he provided the MSS information concerning Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy advocates, members of the Falun Gong religious movement, and US-based non-governmental organizations. Li also provided the MSS with information he obtained from his employers. The defendant used a variety of anonymous online accounts for the purpose of communicating with the MSS, traveling to China to meet with his handlers as well.

If convicted, Li faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Florida Telecommunications and Information Technology Worker Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Act as Agent of PRC Government | United States Department of Justice

https://www.pcmag.com/news/former-verizon-employee-accused-of-spying-for-china

Cat Ran Away 11 Years Ago; Found by Microchip

The cat looks a bit scrawny, but quite happy indeed. Image: Charleston County Animal Control  and AP

After Sam Sam the Kittycat Man disappeared 11 years ago, Jennifer Ravenel couldn’t hold another cat in her lap. Her heart never could overcome the loss of that feral kitten she had rescued from the crook of a tree on her South Carolina farm. But Sam is now back in Ravenel’s lap, thanks to her decision to have a microchip put in him.

Charleston County Animal Control found Sam this month, skinny and feeding off scraps from a feral colony less than a mile from Ravenel’s home. His microchip was scanned, and Ravenel got a nearly unbelievable phone call. Once everyone was sure Sam was OK, Ravenel got to hold her lap kitty again. She squeezed him, telling him that he was her boy and remarking how skinny he was.

“I haven’t held a cat since he left — 11 years — because it broke my heart. To feel his little heartbeat in there, oh, gosh, it’s the craziest thing that has ever happened to me,” Ravenel said in a video provided by the Animal Society.

Source:

Sam Sam the Kittycat Man ran away. He was found close by — 11 years later | AP News

Ukraine Targets Moscow in ‘One of Largest Ever’ Drone Attacks

Moscow’s air defenses are still holding firm for the moment. Photo: Julius Silver,Pexels.com

Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Moscow, as it presses on with a major incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Russian air defence forces shot down 11 drones over Moscow and its surrounding region. No damage or casualties were reported. Drone attacks on Moscow are rare. Ukraine’s latest attempt to target the Russian capital appeared to be larger than an attack in May 2023, when at least eight drones were intercepted.

Following the assault on Moscow, temporary restrictions were imposed overnight at Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, but all three later returned to normal operations.

Source:

Ukraine targets Moscow in ‘one of largest ever’ drone attacks | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera

Latvian National Extradited for Illegally Exporting Advanced US-Origin Aircraft Technology to Russia

Upgraded Tu-160M strategic bomber. (Photo: TASS)

Oleg Chistyakov AKA Olegs Čitsjakovs (55) was extradited from Latvia to a federal court in Kansas City, KS. Chistyakov allegedly conspired with US citizens Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky (61) and Douglas Edward Robertson (56) to facilitate the sale, repair and shipment of US-origin avionics equipment to customers in Russia and other countries that operate Russian-built aircraft. Buyanovksy and Robertson were charged and arrested in March 2023 and have both pleaded guilty. Buyanovsky is scheduled to be sentenced on 14 Nov; Robertson on 3 Oct.

Chistyakov is charged with conspiracy, Export Control Reform Act violations, smuggling, and money laundering. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

Source:

Office of Public Affairs | Latvian National Extradited for Scheme to Illegally Export Advanced U.S.-Origin Aircraft Technology to Russia | United States Department of Justice

The War in Gaza Is Creating Thousands of Orphans as Polio Outbreak Looms

UN experts estimate that at least 19,000 children are now surviving with extended families, hospital staff, volunteers, or managing by themselves. Many of Gaza’s newly orphaned children are injured, traumatized, and haunted by memories of their parents. Medical staff say children are left to roam hospital hallways and fend for themselves. Hospitals label them “wounded child, no surviving family.” Neonatal units are caring for unclaimed babies and surgeons have amputated limbs from many orphans who said “they had no one to hold their hands or comfort them.”

Nearly all of the territory’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war. On top of all this abject misery, the UN reports an outbreak of the polio virus which was polio-free for 25 years. A supply chain of refrigeration units and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip would be necessary to contain this virus.

Abdullah Akeila (LF) and his brother Ahmed (R) in Gaza. The boys are aching to see their parents again and are convinced it will happen as soon as they can go home. (Photo: Bilal Shbair for the New York Times).

Sources:

War-battered Gaza Faces Uphill Battle Against Polio | IBTimes

The War in Gaza Is Making Thousands of Orphans – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Police Brutality in US Continues: South Carolina Deputy Charged with Killing Unarmed Man, Letting Police Dog Maul Another Innocent Man

Former deputy Treyvon Jonathan Sellers in an undated photo.

A deputy in South Carolina has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and assault after he shot an unarmed suspect five times, killing him, while letting his police dog maul a different, innocent person.

State agents arrested former Florence County deputy Treyvon Jonathan Sellers (29). He was on leave after the 26 May shooting and was fired in July after an arrest in an unrelated domestic violence case. Sellers was chasing 43-year-old William Dwayne Rankin when Rankin crashed into a tree and ran into a nearby home. Sellers went into the home through the back door unannounced with his unleashed police dog. The ex-deputy then ordered the dog to attack anyone in the house. The dog bit Johnny Cooper, the owner of the home, who wasn’t involved in the chase and didn’t know Sellers. While the dog attacked Mr. Cooper, Sellers shot Rankin five times as he lay on a couch.

Sellers failed to give the dog the right commands to stop attacking and the homeowner was mauled for approximately 87 seconds, suffering permanent injuries to his left arm and shoulder. Sellers was charged with voluntary manslaughter in Rankin’s death and faces two to 30 years in prison if convicted. He was also charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature in the dog’s attack and faces up to 20 years if convicted. The fate of the police dog is not yet known.

Source:

South Carolina deputy charged with killing unarmed man, letting police dog maul someone else – CBS News

Mexico to Charge Drug Lord for Delivering Another Drug Lord to US

A plane believed to have carried Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez is seen on the tarmac of the Dona Ana County private airport, in Santa Teresa, NM, 25 July 2024.

The strange saga of how two Mexican drug lords were detained after landing in a plane in the US in July just got stranger. The Mexican government is bringing charges against Joaquín Guzmán López, the leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel founded by his father, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, because he kidnapped Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada — an older drug boss from a rival faction of the cartel — forcing him onto the plane and flying to an airport near El Paso, TX.

The younger Guzmán apparently intended to turn himself in to US authorities, but may have brought Zambada along as a prize to sweeten any plea deal. Zambada had trusted Guzmán and accompanied him to a meeting to help iron out a fierce rivalry between two Mexican politicians.

Zambada was known for eluding capture for decades because of his incredibly tight, loyal, and sophisticated personal security apparatus. Joaquin Guzman Lopez may be charged with treason. According to Mexico’s criminal code, treason is committed “by those who illegally abduct a person in Mexico in order to hand them over to authorities of another country.”

These Mexican drug cartels smuggle millions of doses of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the US, causing about 70,000 overdose deaths each year.

Source:

Mexico to charge drug lord for delivering another drug lord to US (voanews.com)

ACLU Sues Medford, Oregon for Spying on Activists

0n 1 Jun 2020 Chris Luz, the mayor of the neighboring town of Phoenix, drove through a crowd of BLM protesters in Medford, OR. He was accused of intentionally hitting at least one woman with his car. Neither he nor the protestor were charged. (Imagery: The UK Daily Mail)

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon has sued the city of Medford, accusing the Police Department of “illegally spying” on “progressive political activists.”

The ACLU filed the lawsuit claiming the department “illegally collected information on individuals and groups engaged in racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive justice, housing justice, harm reduction, decriminalization, government transparency and environmental advocacy, when no crime had been committed. Police surveillance of protected political activities is not only unlawful; it is incompatible with life in a free society.”

The complaint, filed on behalf of Rogue Valley Pepper Shakers, Stabbin Wagon and Melissa Jones, claims police collected intelligence from social media accounts on progressive groups and events, including a Juneteenth drive-in movie at the YMCA and in 2022 before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and federal abortion rights.

Oregon state law bans police from “collecting or maintaining information about the political, religious, or social views and associations or activities of people who are not reasonably suspected of criminal activity.”

This unwarranted police surveillance is right out of Belarussian Supremo Alexander Lukashenko’s playbook or J. Edgar Hoover’s notorious COINTELPRO and has no place whatsoever in American society.

Sources:

https://www.aclu-or.org/

ACLU sues Medford, Ore.; accuses police of ‘spying’ on activists – UPI.com

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8440541/Driver-drove-crowd-Oregon-protesters-allegedly-neighboring-towns-MAYOR.html

https://ktvl.com/news/local/da-clears-phoenix-mayor-of-wrongdoing-in-incident-at-protest-protester-also-not-charged

City of Medford Names New Police Chief City of Medford (medfordoregon.gov)

New York Man Arrested for Operating as an Illegal Agent of the Chinese Government in the US

Yuanjun Tang (67), a naturalized citizen of the US and resident of Queens, NY, was charged with being an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and making materially false statements to the FBI.

Tang is a former PRC citizen who was imprisoned in China for his activities as a dissident opposing the one-party authoritarian political system controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On or about 2002, Tang defected to Taiwan and was subsequently granted political asylum in the US and moved to NYC. Tang regularly participated in events with fellow PRC dissidents and lead a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting democracy in China. But Tang was secretly reporting to the Ministry of State Security (MSS) on these dissidents and had at least three face-to-face meetings with his handlers. The FBI recovered photographs, videos, and documents that Tang collected or created for transmission to the MSS from numerous electronic devices and computer accounts.

Yuanjun Tang is charged with several counts and faces between five to 20 years incarceration if he is convicted.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

Source:

Office of Public Affairs | New York Man Arrested for Operating as an Illegal Agent of the Chinese Government in the United States | United States Department of Justice

Draconian Security Services Impacting US and German Interests in China

This girl is one of 15,000 people the Chinese authorities arrested in 2015 for “jeopardizing Internet security.” (Undated imagery).

Intelligence and security services are causing difficulties for the US and Germany. American diplomatic efforts to conduct people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges are being stifled. German commercial interests in the pharmaceutical industry are also being hampered in China.

The US State Department has been arranging for Chinese students to study in the US. In 2023, 105,000 student visas were issued and approximately 300,000 Chinese students are expected to be studying at American universities by the end of 2024. But the Chinese Communist Party’s security services, including agents of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), have been discouraging these students from going. Their tactics include interrogation, intimidation, and threats of expulsion from Chinese institutions. In some cases, parents of the students have been threatened by security personnel to dissuade their children from studying abroad.

In addition, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) shut down American-sponsored educational exchange programs in Shenyang, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. The security services have also blocked the US Embassy in Beijing from hiring a single Chinese national for the past three years, impeding basic American diplomatic operations.

China’s emboldened police state affects Germany as well. The German pharmaceutical industry warns of possible drug shortages from China as four out of Germany’s 16 states have suspended trips by their quality-control inspectors over tightened espionage laws. The states say they can no longer guarantee the safety of their inspectors on visits to Chinese pharmaceutical factories.

Germany imports almost 90 percent of its antibiotics from China. Europe also imports a high number of active pharmaceutical ingredients and antibiotics from China, which is one of the world’s largest suppliers.

With the emergence of new diseases thanks to global climate change, a drug shortage would be catastrophic. Moreover, unscrupulous actors would take advantage of a shortfall by producing and marketing counterfeit and ineffective drugs in the West.

Sources:

Inside the Ring: Chinese security services are blocking America’s diplomatic efforts – Washington Times

German pharmaceutical industry warns of possible drug shortages from China | Euronews

https://www.csoonline.com/article/552509/china-arrests-15-000-for-internet-related-crimes.html

Belarus President: “One-Third of Army Deployed to Ukrainian Border”

Belarus has deployed nearly one-third of its troops to the border with Ukraine, the country’s authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenka told Russia’s state-run Rossia-1 television channel on 18 August. He said the decision was made in response to Ukraine allegedly maintaining 120,000 soldiers near the border with Belarus and amassing more forces. Lukashenka also insisted that Kyiv had raised the stakes by launching a surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

According to the Global Firepower Index (GFI), the Belarussian Army has 263,000 troops and in terms of readiness: 336 tanks, 14 attack helicopters, and nearly 50 attack/fighter jets.  GFI ranked Belarussian military strength 64 out 145 countries surveyed in 2024. The longest standing ruler in Europe, the deeply unpopular Lukashenko maintains a 55,000 paramilitary force and never changed the name of the Belarussian KGB after the USSR imploded in 1991.

The majority of the Belarussian population oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as the cruel and despotic Aleksandr Lukashenko. His statement on Russian TV was a political maneuver to demonstrate his loyalty to Vladimir Putin and a means of putting pressure on Ukraine. But nothing would destabilize the Lukashenko regime more than Ukrainian rockets and drones smashing into the pristinely kept city of Minsk.  

Sources:

Belarusian Leader Says One-Third Of Army Deployed To Ukraine Border (rferl.org)

2024 Belarus Military Strength (globalfirepower.com)

Belarusians are facing discrimination and blame for Russia’s war in Ukraine (theconversation.com)

Mother and Six Children Killed by IDF Airstrike as Secretary of State Blinken Arrives for Truce Talks

After the Israeli attack, the children’s grandfather, Muhammad Awad Khattab, asked a CNN reporter:

“They were taken by surprise when a missile hit them and completely destroyed their apartment. What did they do to deserve this? What resistance did they have?”

This latest IDF effrontery comes one day after a strike killed at least 18 people, all from the same family in central Gaza. Nine children were among those killed and the IDF claimed responsibility for the attack. The IDF killed ten people in southern Lebanon the preceding day (please see yesterday’s Coriolanus post).

Secretary Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, his ninth trip to Israel since 7 Oct 2023. President Biden expressed optimism with Secretary of State Blinken’s efforts at reaching a truce and releasing the hostages. The US administration seems more concerned about the Israeli hostages than the Likud cabinet.

“It’s still underway, we’re not giving up, [it’s] still possible,” Biden said.

But the honorable Mr. Blinken must deal with a man dubbed by Israelis as the “Crime Minister.” Indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, Mr. Netanyahu has also been on trial for corruption and bribery charges in a Jerusalem court.

Israeli PM Netanyahu has turned the Gaza Strip, once described as the “world’s largest open-air prison,” into an immense abattoir. Since October 2023, 40,000 Gazans have been killed (and over 500 Palestinians have been murdered in the West Bank). ICC prosecutors at the Hague have been seeking an international arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for several months now.

Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising poignantly remarked:

“To be a Jew means always being with the oppressed, never with the oppressors.”

Source:

6 children, mother killed by Israeli airstrike as Blinken arrives for truce efforts – UPI.com

ICC statement on arrest warrants of Israeli and Hamas leaders (bbc.com)

Donald Trump Campaign in Shambles as Former President Searches for Scapegoat Amidst Falling Poll Numbers and Internal Dissent from MAGA Supporters

Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign is increasingly mired in disarray as the former president grapples with internal conflicts and sinking poll numbers. Staffers and advisors are scrambling to regain control of a campaign that up until mid-summer appeared to be on a steady course. However, Biden’s unexpected exit from the race has left Team Trump unable to adjust to the new political landscape. The former president, known for his reluctance to accept responsibility, is now reportedly searching for someone to blame as his campaign falters.

Moreover, influential far-right figures are turning against former president Donald Trump’s campaign. Some have threatened a digital “war” against the Republican candidate’s aides and allies that could complicate the party’s calls for unity in the final weeks of the presidential race. Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and podcaster who dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., in 2022, said on X that Trump’s campaign was “blowing it” by not positioning itself more to the right and was “headed for a catastrophic loss,” in a post that had been viewed 2.6 million times.

The former president’s tendency to lash out at those around him, rather than reflect on his own actions, suggests that a major shake-up may be on the horizon. Whether this will be enough to turn the tide in Trump’s favor remains to be seen as the 2024 election draws closer.

Sources:

Donald Trump Campaign in Disarray as Former President Searches for Scapegoat Amidst Falling Poll Numbers – EconoTimes

Far-right influencers turn against Trump campaign (msn.com)

US Food Recall: Over 167,000 Pounds of Purdue Frozen Chicken

All recalled Purdue products are marked with the same P-33944 establishment number on the back which can be used to identify them.

Perdue Foods is recalling more than 167,000 pounds of frozen chicken products over fears of contamination. The frozen, ready-to-eat chicken breast nugget and tender items could contain foreign material, specifically metal, the USDA FSIS warned. Perdue said it has received multiple complaints from customers about metal wire embedded in the product, leading it to notify the FSIS.

“There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider,” FSIS advised.

“FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.”

The products in question were manufactured on 23 March 2024, and were shipped to retail locations across the US while also being sold online directly to consumers. The recalled products include chicken breast tenders and nuggets in different sizes as well as nuggets under the Butcherbox brands.

Source:

Perdue Foods LLC, Recalls Frozen, Ready-To-Eat Chicken Breast Nugget and Tender Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination | Food Safety and Inspection Service (usda.gov)

US Police Brutality: Two Alaska State Troopers Charged After Violent Assault on Wrong Man

A still photo from video footage of Alaska State Troopers brutally assaulting an innocent man in Soldotna, AK on 24 May 2024. Photo: @kylehopkinsak/X

Alaska State Troopers Sgt. Joseph Miller and K-9 handler Jason Woodruff were charged with fourth-degree misdemeanor assault following a case of mistaken identity when they pepper-sprayed, tased, and unleashed a police dog on an innocent man on 24 May. The Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety said he was “totally sickened” by what he saw on the troopers’ body cameras.

Troopers Miller and Woodruff responded to a report of an illegally parked car. The vehicle was registered to a man whose name was linked to an active misdemeanor warrant. The troopers ordered the driver out of the vehicle, but broke the car’s windows and dragged him out when he refused, protesting there was no warrant against him.

The troopers then pepper-sprayed and tased him. Woodruff then sicced his police dog on the driver and ordered the animal to “bite the man.” Miller then placed his foot on the man’s head, “pushing it into the ground covered in broken glass,” causing his “face or head” to start bleeding. After the man was taken to a local hospital for treatment, the troopers realized they had actually arrested the cousin of the man with the warrant.

Miller and Woodruff have since been placed on administrative leave and the dog is no longer in service. The troopers next court appearance is on 10 September. The Alaskan government can expect a tremendous civil lawsuit from the grievously injured man and will probably offer the victim a healthy out-of-court settlement.

Incidents of police brutality continue unabated in the US. Episodes like this gave rise to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) and De-Fund the Police movements, and who can blame them?

Source:

Alaska state troopers charged after violent assault of wrong man (hngn.com)

https://time.com/5936408/defund-the-police-definition-movement/

US State Department clears $5B Sale of Patriot Missiles to Germany

The US State Department has approved the sale of the latest variant of Patriot missiles to Germany in a deal that could be worth an estimated $5 billion. The Foreign Military Sale to Germany would involve 600 of the Lockheed Martin-manufactured Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, which includes 10 fly-to-buy missiles.

Germany has invested heavily in its Patriot air and missile defense capabilities this year as it sends both Patriot batteries and interceptors to Ukraine to support the country’s years-long fight against Russia’s invasion. Patriot’s dominance in Ukraine has attracted fresh attention and potential customers from around the world. Germany is a longtime user of Patriot which serves as the air defense for 19 countries, with 15 of those countries using PAC-3 MSE in its missile inventory.

President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to weaken and de-stabilize NATO have backfired. Neutral Finland and Sweden recently joined NATO and last year Poland made a record-breaking deal for 96 AH-64E Apache Guardian Helicopters. The Apache is probably the most lethal attack helicopter in the world.

Sources:

US State Department clears $5B sale of Patriot missiles to Germany (defensenews.com)

Record-Breaking Deal for 96 AH-64E Apache Guardian Helicopters for Poland – MILMAG

Why the AH-64 Apache is the World’s Best Attack Helicopter | The National Interest

NATO – Homepage

Right-Wing Extremist Tied to Threats Against Raw Story Reporter Arrested on Gun Charges

Six neo-Nazis — holding burning flares and raising their arms in Nazi salutes — demonstrated in front of author Jordan Green’s home on 10 Feb 2024. One held a sign threatening “consequences.” (Image courtesy of rawstory.com)

Kai Liam Nix, a 20-year-old Army soldier based at Fort Liberty, NC and tied to white supremacist groups, was arrested on 15 August. He is being detained in a North Carolina jail on a “federal hold.” Nix was linked to a demonstration by neo-Nazis in February outside the Greensboro, NC home of Raw Story reporter Jordan Green. Nix photographed four men wearing skull masks holding burning flares in Hitler salutes while flanking a fifth man, who held a sign warning of “consequences” for Green’s reporting on neo-Nazi youth gang 2119, AKA the Blood and Soil Crew.

The man holding the sign, Sean Kauffmann, along with two of the men making Hitler salutes — Jarrett William Smith and David Fair — had been the subject of Green’s previous reporting.

The US Army has been working for years trying to identify and purge itself of right-wing extremists who enlisted in order to gain expertise in weapons and tactics and then establish networks with other dangerous fellow white nationalists.

In an average year, 1,388 people die and 3,407 are wounded by firearms in North Carolina. The Tar Heel State has the 17th-highest rate of gun violence in the US.

Sources:

Right-wing extremist tied to threats against Raw Story reporter arrested on gun charges – Raw Story

Inside the neo-Nazi hate network grooming children for a race war

Florida teens tied to ‘2119’ neo-Nazi gang to plead guilty for antisemitic attacks

The Violent Far-Right Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Military | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

Gun-Violence-in-North-Carolina-2.9.2021.pdf (everystat.org)

Ten-Year-Old Girl Discovers Dinosaur Footprints On Beach in Wales, UK

“We were just out looking to see what we could find, we didn’t think we’d find anything,” says Tegan, on the beach where the discovery was made. (Undated imagery courtesy of the BBC.)

10-year-old schoolgirl Tegan went for a summer holiday beach stroll with her mother in south Wales and spotted five enormous footprints that dinosaur experts believe are the mark of a camelotia that lived over 200 million years ago.

Efforts are underway to get them verified. Little is known about camelotias but it is thought they walked on their front feet and their hind limbs, were herbivorous and lived during the late Triassic period. The National Museum Wales paleontology curator states that she is “fairly certain they are genuine dinosaur prints.”

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c049pe7gx6do

Maniac who Attacked US Capitol Police on 6 Jan 2021 Sentenced to 20 Years

US Justice Dept image shows David Dempsey stomping on police officers in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021.

David Dempsey (37) of Santa Ana, CA, was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous weapon during the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the US Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the US Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Senior US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, a President Ronald Reagan nomination, confined David Dempsey to 240 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors described this runamok as one of the most violent members of Donald Trump supporters that attacked the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. David Dempsey represents America’s “Fedayeen Saddam,” a white supremacist dead-ender who stomped on heads, swung poles and a metal crutch, and attacked police officers with pepper spray and broken pieces of furniture.

US Justice Dept image shows David Dempsey throwing a pole at a police officer in the Lower West Terrace at the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021.

Unless presidentially pardoned, this miscreant will grace the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) with his departure when he is 57 years of age. After two decades of incarceration, Davis Dempsey will not have contributed much towards his Social Security retirement and he will have to find adequate employment just to sustain him plus save money for his imminent golden years.

In the 43 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,488 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the attack on the US Capitol, including nearly 550 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.

Sources:

District of Columbia | California Man Sentenced for Assaulting Law Enforcement with a Dangerous Weapon During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-arrests-2654807458

Ukrainian SBU Uses Double Agent to Apprehend Senior Russian GRU Agent in Kiev

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested a senior agent of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU) through the use of their own double agent. A Russian operator was organizing a sabotage cell in Kiev to target select vehicles with arson. An individual previously caught by the SBU became a double agent for them and documented the subversive activities of the female Russian military intelligence officer. This is called “turning in place.”

She recruited and coordinated the arsonists and helped them organize other subversive activities in Kiev. The woman gave instruction in the manufacture of homemade ignition devices, which were to be used to destroy military vehicles. The GRU operative arranged to film the arson attack to be committed by the SBU double agent and was caught in the act.

The captured operative will be charged with acts of treason committed under martial law for which she faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property. She may be used in a future prisoner swap for a high value Ukrainian operative held by the Kremlin.

The SBU also reported the detention of a 32-year-old fitness trainer from Odessa who set fire to the cars of the Armed Forces in Kyiv, Dnipro and Odessa on the orders of the FSB. The Odessa man, who was looking for quick money on the Internet, set fire to an АFU van in Kiev after having traveled to the capital, where he rented an apartment for one day. At night, he set fire to the parked military vehicle, capturing the result on his phone which Russia wanted to “prove” the existence of a pro-Russian underground in Kyiv. He intended to carry out similar actions in other Ukrainian cities.

The Ukrainian intelligence services continue to improve, neutralizing threats within their border and maintaining a clandestine network within Russia. Overall Operational Security (OPSEC) is also excellent, as the Russian military seems to have been caught unawares of Ukraine’s recent surprise offensive into Kursk. Either that, or the Kremlin ignored intelligence of the imminent AFU attack. President Putin appeared displeased at a recent emergency session of his national security council.

Sources:

SBU Uses Double Agent to Apprehend a Senior GRU Agent in Kyiv (kyivpost.com)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/23/ukraine-cia-shadow-war-russia/

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/08/09/putin-seethes-as-ukraines-shock-incursion-catches-leadership-by-surprise-a85970

Wildfires Rage Across North America

The US Forest Service is at “the highest level of wildfire response possible,” as forests grapple with record-breaking dry timber conditions. Last year, more than 1,600,000 hectares of land in Canada were scorched, setting a new record. In the US, NOAA reported that 55,571 fires burned 2,633,636 acres of land. North America could see similar or more damage this year. Drier conditions caused by global climate change are the root cause.

The first link below is an interactive real-time NASA map to show you the extent of the current conflagration.

Unless mankind can turn things around PDQ, Mother Nature will have a difficult time to recuperating from these grievous environmental wounds which impacts oxygen levels in the atmosphere and our delicate food cycle. The same can be said about our oceans. Warming waters are creating more “dead zones” and “algae blooms,” killing off the flora and fauna of the Seven Seas. One such oxygen-depriving “dead zone” the size of New Jersey is lurking in the Gulf of Mexico. The time to act is now to save our environment for future generations.

Sources:

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/usfs/map/#d:24hrs;@-100.0,40.0,4.0z

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/wildfires-tracker-canada

https://www.nbcnews.com/western-wildfires

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/dead-zones-in-our-oceans-have-increased-dramatically-since-1950-and-we-re-to-blame/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/phytoplankton-blooms-grow-climate-change-1.6764789

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topstories/a-dead-zone-about-the-size-of-new-jersey-lurks-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/ar-BB1r2LAt

Canadian North Korea UN Expert Detained in Switzerland for Espionage

Swiss authorities took the rare and unusual move to detain an unnamed Canadian in spring 2024 on suspicions of spying, most likely for China. Craig LNU is a resident of Geneva and a former UN expert on North Korea. He first attracted the attention of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service when he met with a suspected Chinese spy and appeared to accept cash in return for providing information.

The suspect sought to capitalize on his knowledge of North Korean diplomats with whom he had cultivated relationships over many years. This investigation is an effort by Switzerland to root out Chinese espionage operations in Geneva, home to multiple UN organizations, and the arrest is highly unusual in a country that typically asks spies to quietly leave. The Chinese military intelligence agent, accredited to Beijing’s permanent mission to Geneva, has since left Switzerland. 

“It is very rare for the Swiss authorities to make arrests on spying charges, let alone bringing such a matter eventually to court,” advised an expert on Chinese operations at the University of Basel. The last major case in which Switzerland is known to have detained a foreign national for espionage dates back to 1998, when authorities arrested a Mossad agent in Bern targeting the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“If [the Swiss authorities prosecute a suspect], one must assume that they have a solid case,” he said, suggesting that external pressure may have played a role in Bern’s actions. If charged and convicted of gathering military, economic and political intelligence for a foreign government, Craig LNU could face up to three years in a Swiss prison.

Nota Bene: Swiss and Western intelligence agencies must intensively debrief Craig LNU for damage assessment, which is probably being discreetly conducted . If the suspect shared sensitive information about former UN colleagues or North Korean diplomats, he may have put them in grave peril when they travel to China or North Korea, both of which have a have a history of detaining foreigners on allegations of espionage, subversion and other trumped-up charges.

Source:

North Korea expert, missing for months, detained in Switzerland for espionage | NK News

GOP Nominee to Run North Carolina Schools Advocated pro-Trump Military Coup in 6 January 2021 Video and Deaths of Presidents Obama and Biden

Michele Morrow, who supported a putsch against the US government on 6 Jan 2021, as well as advocated the public executions of Presidents Obama and Biden, is seeking a position where her estimated annual salary could be as high as $172,318. 

Michele Morrow, the Republican nominee to run the K-12 public education system in North Carolina, filmed a video while attending the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol urging then-President Donald Trump to put “the Constitution to the side” and use the US military to stay in power. This same person who has been nominated to run North Carolina’s $11 billion budget for K-12 public schools and set education priorities and the curriculum, also called for violence against Democrats, including executing Presidents Obama and Biden.

Morrow was at the US Capitol as the 6 January 2021 attack occurred, according to public videos reviewed by CNN that show her in a restricted area on the northwest side of the Capitol. CNN has seen no evidence that Morrow entered the Capitol building that day or that she engaged in violence, and she was not charged with any crimes.

In the March 2024 Republican primary, Morrow defeated the incumbent North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. That same month, CNN’s KFile reported Morrow had previously called for the public execution of Barack Obama and the death of Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats in comments on a since-deleted X account. The candidate has purged past extremist posts since running for office.

Remarkable that North Carolina is an election away from giving a handsome annual salary of potentially $172,318 to a neo-Confederate to manage its $11bn K-12 public school system. If the normal people of the Tar Heel State allow this Trump supporter to win the election, they will have to hold their noses for four years as their hard-earned tax dollars provide Michele Morrow with a robust salary as she oversees the curriculum being taught to 1,459,852 public school (and possibly 77,791 charter school) students.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2024/03/21/north-carolina-gop-public-schools-nominee-sot-ac360-vpx.cnn

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/politics/kfile-gop-nominee-north-carolina-public-schools-michele-morrow-executing-democrats

https://www.dpi.nc.gov/documents/fbs/resources/fy25webschedulesupdated7-12-24pdf/download?attachment

Israeli airstrike on Gaza school used as shelter kills at least 80, Palestinian officials report

An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza early Saturday, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 others, Palestinian health authorities reported. This was one of the deadliest IDF attacks over the past ten months. A witness said the munitions struck during prayers at a mosque in the building.

This attack was the latest of what a UN human rights officer called “systematic attacks on schools” by Israel, with at least 21 schools destroyed since 4 July 2024 leaving hundreds dead, including women and children.

“For many, schools are the last resort to find some shelter,” a UN official reported after Saturday’s bombardment.

The venomous Benjamin Netanyahu government has turned the Gaza Strip, once described as the “world’s largest open prison,” into a massive merciless hecatomb. Palestinians, UN refugee workers, World Central Kitchen volunteers, humanitarians, Freedom Flotilla samaritans, and journalists are completely unsafe and vulnerable to death or maiming at any time at the hands of the IDF.

All this carnage takes place while the world blithely enjoys the “Bread and circuses” spectacle of the vainglorious Paris XXXIII Olympiad. Sadly, Western governments that provide economic or military aid to Israel are complicit in these “massacres by munitions.”

To eliminate Muslims from the nascent Republika Srpska in July 1995, Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Milosevic and General Ratko Mladic orchestrated an infamous mass execution of 8,000 unarmed Bosnian men and boys in Srebrenica. Both caitiffs were later convicted of genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague.

So, you wonder how much population reduction the Likud government is seeking in the Gaza Strip, with the thousands and thousands of casualties the IDF have inflicted. And in the West Bank, the UN reports at least 500 Palestinians have been murdered by settlers over the past two years to which the Israeli security services seems to have turned a blind eye.

Sources:

https://www.voanews.com/a/israeli-airstrike-kills-over-60-people-at-gaza-school-palestinian-health-officials-say/7737279.html

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1150596

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre